Students should be free
to patronize Chick-ﬁl-A if
they choose.
page 12

What’s the deal
with the seal?

Elon’s emblem unites
past accomplishments
with future goals.
page 18

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@elonpendulum
facebook.com/
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Here to stay?

Table of Contents
Wednesday, October 3, 2012 • page 2

THE PENDULUM
Established 1974

The Pendulum news organization
is a daily operation that includes a
newspaper, website, magazine and
web show. Letters to the editor
and guest columns are welcome
and should be typed, signed and
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Lengthy letters or columns may
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become the property of The
Pendulum and will not be returned.
The Pendulum is located on the
third ﬂoor of the Elon Town Center
on Williamson Avenue.

ELON STUDENTS LEARN ABOUT COUNTY THROUGH
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Academic requirement inspires connection between university and Alamance County students
page 10

Opinions

page 12

JUDGE A COMPANY BY ITS PRODUCTS, NOT ITS POLITICS
Proposal to remove Chick-ﬁl-A stirs up campus
page 12-13

Extras

page 3
page 29
page 29
pages 30–31

CALENDAR
THE LAST WORD
TOP TWEETS OF THE WEEK
TOP PHOTOS

Cover photo illustration by Claire Esparros. The data comes
from 421 survey respondents from the Elon community.
Turn to page 5 for the full story.

International page 14
PARADOX IN PARADISE
International reporter Greg Zitelli explores a symbol of slave
trade masked by tourists and beauty in Sengal
page 14

Style

page 16

Sports

page 22

DENYING IDENTITY: HASSELL FOCUSES ON THE
UNDEFINABLE
Elon professor searches for truth in individuality in wake of
troubled past
page 16-17
FINAL LINES COME TOGETHER FOR ‘STORY OF HOME’
PREMIERE
Student playwright Logan Sutton prepares for the debut of
self-penned play
pages 20-21

BREAKING POINT
Oct. 6, at a crucial point in its season, the Elon University
football team looks to beat Appalachian State University for
the ﬁrst time since 1964.
page 26-28

FILE PHOTO BY AL DRAGO

On page 26, get a glimpse into the history of the Elon-Appalachian State football series and why this Saturday’s game is a crucial one for the Phoenix.

Chief
PAGE 12
Editor-in// THURSD
AY, MARCH
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ex
Kony was
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d
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prison
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permission that Wade should
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to run for
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term.
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March 4
y hours
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apolog
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ntial
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human rights attemp ting
author
issued
said Moham to be preside
from the
ities.
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at Elon l of a poster
nt in the
med Mbaye nt for eternit
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Institut
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remova resident assista
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ng the
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asked Fergus
possible.”
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electio
vote for
police
a preside he was old enough n
and a secondnudity — withou
identif office
to remove
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kissing
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before 2007
on, who
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lack of
to
gues
women
ed a in
any full ation. Fergus
he liked
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unfair policiewhen he began
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terror plot
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s
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to sneak
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slurs
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s
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about runnin has alsoIn been
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campu body
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ess of
that aformin
Mbaye said.and
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man of
e awaren
n
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in force,
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Senegaslese
does not intended to increas
be a Talibanbelieve the policem istan.
ing the Campu
Macky Sall
woman
have confid
ty. Follow
either.
infiltra
waited for
an to
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ence
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at Republ
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, presen
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of
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Leo Lambe
press
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Mbaye said or ARP.
presidential D BY KATHERIN
situation
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bysibility
E WISE
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of this countr
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election
College
Pope denou
s Feb. 26.
for theded with ginge the
president
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the other
special respon
y right
the
win
candidates Sall will win
but was
ts
now
to
teachi ngs nces the moral
denied permis
ent, challenwill
(since)
the Consti
seendors
2009,” said prime minister studen
who did
e him.
movem
respon
of Ameri
tutiona
of Wade
not suppor
Mbaye.
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sion from
overall
ry, just
can bishop
until
pha
ity’s
Sall and
Februa
t for “the l Court. They promis
d
Niasse
univers
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s
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ination student reporte
other candid
the first
same politicaWade worked
Pope
ed
discrim
hobic
election
candidates
third
ate” before
after a
l party until togethe
andously
adame ntly Bened ict XVI,
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r in
occurred.
created
who finishene
fourth
the
Election
with
weeks
d
2009,
his
who is
have
in the
Day and
targete
unanim
own politica
agains t
when
already
sex and
and
being
first electio d calm despite
voting
faculty
endorsed
bias
prema rital
l party,
theSall
Yousou
new
slur,
ying
Allianc
Sall, along ns, days leading the politica locations were
referen ced homos exual
N’dour
simplif
ed ea who
l unrest
marria ge,
Americ an
with
policyprevio
approv
such , a Senega
up to the
ng usly
9 when
in the
ination
lese
politic
Mbaye
reporti
he denou
discrim
considered
singer
said more election.
s of
nced that s March
bishop s
in this
running
people
the proces
neede
Americ an
participated
ity
ts.
for Y’en year’s electio
of no prema d to push
univers
inciden
n due to
a Mare.
the ideals
11, the
the efforts
rital sex
of Sept.
the future.s
marria
for
“For me,
of
and no
ge harder
d hope
the attacks
on campu
gay
that’s a
than they
rsary of
democracy,
He said
and renewe and fear
had been.
ainty
and shared
10th annive
, growth
because good thing for
and sudde there was
ges
of uncert experie nces
change
participate
on of the
challen
an intense
everyone
morati on a decade of an atmosphere
their
n
daily
when
need
ate
the
comme
d
promo te
relived
we choose
of
In
Mbaye said.
must
ies of
a legitim a
memor
chastit y for Cathol ics
the preside
the attacks
nity reflecte
cans spoke religion as
d for
shared
to
ses of
of proper
-Ameri
commu
as well
their
nt,”
Senegalese
i and staff
as a lack
on. Witnes
d. Muslim now viewed commu nity gathere
teachin gs
Alumn
s
bishop s
y afterno forever change
y that
at the local citizens waited
by Americ
on the subjec
a countr
the campu
that Tuesda
lives were residing in
an
11, 2011,
president. schools to choosein long lines
These
t.
how their victories of
g of Sept.
their next
politic ally-chremark s come
the mornin attacks.
Voters picked
and small
And on
arged
at a
y of the
upcom ing
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the name
threat.
ny in memor
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lets showin
ceremo
and inserte and photo of
electio ns.
d their choice each candid g
Power plants
behind
into an enveloate
a
shut
to elimin
dropped curtain. The envelo
pe
ate nucleadown in Japan
into a
pes were
r energ
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y use
for Cheikh
who came
Japan shut
Bamba Dieye,
in fifth
down all
its 54 comm
candid
place
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ates. But
ercial reacto but two of
Mbaye saidout of the 14
last two
people
to partici
Dakar Feb.
rs, and
reacto rs
pate in the
he still
26. The wait in long lines
the
becom e
are schedu
plans
result was
runoff electio
at
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idle
a run-off the local schools
disapp
n.
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live here.
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School
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outside
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last July. Astley and Mary morate
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r
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campu and share
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e. profess , former associa
visited
passed
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ore Collins
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s of
of
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March.
after develop
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breath
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The Edge is Elon University’s only general-interest
magazine, published quarterly by The Pendulum
student news organization. Students of all years and
majors are encouraged to contribute.

// PAGE
16, 2012
DAY, MAY

16, 2012
DAY, MAY

World

Wednesday,
October 17

For the full calendar,
visit The Pendulum
online at:
www.elonpendulum.com.

Elon University will soon institute the Writing Excellence
Initiative to help students achieve
a higher standard of written communication in their coursework and
beyond.
The initiative to enhance the
writing curriculum throughout departments was developed under the
Quality Enhancement Plan, a component of the reaccreditation process that aims to improve an aspect
of the institution. The initiative is
designed to help students gain expertise in writing, inquiry and community engagement.
“We hope that students will
use writing to somehow make an
impact on the world,” said Paula
Patch, English lecturer and college
writing program coordinator.. “That
means writing a letter to the editor
or writing a grant proposal to help
solve a problem in their community.
It could be that a student goes on to
work in public policy, and because

they are able to write well, their
statements will have a widespread
impact.”
To achieve the goals set forth by
the Writing Excellence Initiative,
the plan calls for professors to find
more ways to incorporate writing
into their curriculum, such as substituting a multiple choice test for
an essay exam, Patch said.
Professors of all disciplines will
receive support and instruction to
help them master their own written
communication skills, Patch said.
The Writing Center will play an
important role in the initiative as
well, and its staﬀ will receive training to oﬀer expanded services to
students and faculty. These services
will include support for multimedia writing and writing students do
outside of class, according to Paul
Anderson, director of writing across
the university.
“Lots of students will be doing
writing on their own, whether that’s
creative writing or writing related
to issues in their own communities,”
Anderson said. “We want to celebrate that and support it.”
The Writing Excellence
Initiative may alter the way
courses are taught at Elon,
but there will be no new
course or graduation requirements resulting from
it, according to Anderson.
“The approach in regard
to academics is to have stu-

dents working in their majors with
writing throughout their four years
in ways that intentionally and deliberately build their skills as they
move from the intro course to the
capstone, or culminating course,”
Anderson said.
But the plan is still subject to alteration, and Anderson is eager to
receive feedback from students and
staﬀ, he said. By visiting the Writ-

ing Initiative’s website, students can
post their ideas about the plan or
find out who they can contact with
their suggestions.
“I want Elon alumni to say one
of the most valuable things they got
from the university was writing,”
Anderson said. “When employers
and grad schools talk about Elon, I
want them to say one of the more
remarkable things about our stu-

dents is how well they write.”
“I think it’s easy for people
across the university to see that
writing is an important tool,” Patch
said. “In the classroom, it’s a tool for
learning and it’s also a tool for assessment.”
Having strong writing skills will
also be important for students in
their endeavors after graduation,
Patch said.

GLORIA SO | Staﬀ Photographer

Senior Molly O’Brien (left) and sophomore Autumn Spriggs regularly make use of the Writing Center, which is an instrumental part
of the new Writing Excellence Initiative to integrate advanced writing skills into course work.

Isabella Cannon Centre intensiﬁes focus on domestic study
Kristen Olsen
Senior Reporter
The Isabella Cannon Centre
changed its name to better reflect its functionality. With the
addition of the new Study USA
program, the office formerly
known as the Isabella Cannon
International Centre has been
officially renamed the Isabella
Cannon Global Education Center.
Study USA is the new home
for all Elon University domestic
study programs, which includes
Elon in New York, Elon in Los
Angeles and domestic Winter
Term programs. Its office re-

sides in the Isabella Cannon
Centre, which led to the change
in name.
“Changing the name to be
the Global Education Center
incorporates both the USA and
international study programs,”
said Woody Pelton, dean of
global studies.
According to Pelton, the
name change reflects the center’s broadened scope of activity and incorporation of more
domestic study programs. It will
continue to build international
study abroad programs, as well.
“You don’t have to travel
outside of the country to gain
multicultural experience,” said

Phil Smith, interim director of
domestic programs. Smith said
he is working to create more domestic study programs.
The Elon in New York and
LA programs, which used to operate solely through the School
of Communications, will now
operate through the Global Education Center. The center will
take the burden off communications professors by completing
administrative tasks associated
with the program, according to
Pelton.
“Those running the New
York and LA programs can now
focus more on the classes and
students,” Smith said.

The Global Education Center is also developing a semester-long program in Los Angeles, which will be available to
students in spring 2013.
“There are some disciplines
that professors teach that would
strengthen with travel,” Smith
said.
Some Elon students, especially those who have participated in domestic study in the past,
look forward to more programs
being included.
“Now that I’ve done Elon
in New York, I want to try out
LA,” said senior Lauren Harbury. “I 100 percent recommend
domestic study programs.”

News

Spectrum renews resolution against Chick-fil-A

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 • page 5

Katherine Blunt
News Editor

Spectrum, Elon University’s
queer-straight alliance, has renewed its resolution against the
presence of Chick-fil-A’s on
campus. The Student Government Association will vote on
the legislation Oct. 11.
The resolution was suspended briefly while Spectrum
investigated Chick-fil-A’s announcement that its “intent is
not to support political or social agendas,” but it appears the

franchise will still donate to antigay organizations, said senior
Lauren Clapp, an advocacy and
education chair for Spectrum.
The resolution must again sit on
the desk of Connor O’Donnell,
SGA executive vice president,
for two weeks before it can be
put to a vote.
The resolution, first proposed Sept. 18, has been met
with mixed reactions on campus.
Although the first open discussion about Elon’s relationship
with Chick-fil-A yielded considerable support for Spectrum’s

position, some students remain
unconvinced.
“I don’t agree with supporting anti-gay organizations, but I
just don’t think we should take
Chick-fil-A off campus,” said
sophomore Andrew Loughran.
“It’s a personal choice. If you
don’t support Chick-fil-A, you
don’t have to eat there, but taking it away from everyone is kind
of unfair.”
Sophomore Dylan Fitchett
said he thinks removing Chickfil-A would be unfair to the
franchise as well.

“As a business, I don’t support it,” he said. “But as a business, it has a right to be here on
campus.”
Some students are more receptive of Spectrum’s argument,
though. Junior Alex Papp said
he understands Spectrum’s concern, but predicted widespread
discontent among students if the
resolution is passed.
“I think a lot of students
would be angry, because not
many are up-to-date on their
fast food politics,” he said. “I
think it would ultimately make

fil-A goes against our discrimination policy on campus.”
SGA Executive Secretary
Leah Burns said the SGA Executive Board has encouraged
senate members to educate
themselves on the controversy
before the Oct. 11 vote.
“We prepared for the resolution once,” O’Donnell said. “We
will prepare for it again.”

a difference, though. It would
set a precedent regarding Elon’s
business partnerships.”
Although many students
have expressed opinions on the
Chick-fil-A debate, misconceptions about the resolution
continue to circulate, said senior
Emily Kane, also an advocacy
and education chair for Spectrum.
“We want students to understand where we’re coming
from,” she said. “We’re trying
to clarify our stance on it. This
is not a free speech issue. Chick-

What people are saying:
(Quotes pulled from online responses)
Gay rights advocates don’t have the right to
force others to agree with them, and silencing
the competition is a contradiction to everything they stand for.

”

If the university endorses Chick-ﬁl-A, it alienates itself from a large group of its student
body (gay students) and makes them feel
uncomfortable.

”

It’s chicken. Get over it.

University debate topics reveal issues signiﬁcant to Elon students
Rachel Southmayd
Senior Reporter
With Election Day approaching,
the Elon University’s campus is getting
into the swing of debate season, most
notably with a student debate scheduled for Oct. 25. Prior to the debate,
students indicated the topics most important to them during this campaign
season.
Of the 600 students who voted, the
majority ranked the economy, health
care and same-sex marriage as the three
most important topics to address at the
debate.
The debate committee and Jana
Lynn Patterson, assistant vice president for Student Life, reached out to
the Elon community to select the three
topics of the student debate. Voting
for the topics occurred during College

Coﬀee on Sept. 18 and online.
Senior Jess-Mara Jordan did not
vote, but said student loans would be
her biggest topic of interest.
“I feel like all the other stuﬀ that’s
on the bigger platforms don’t really apply to us,” she said, referring to health
care and the economy, two major issues
on which both Republican Mitt Romney and Democrat Barack Obama are
basing their campaigns.
Patterson said loans were the fourth
most popular topic. She explained that
students are probably concerned about
health care and the economy because
they’re such hot topics in the actual
Democratic and Republican Party platforms. She attributed the popularity of
the same sex marriage topic to the current controversy surrounding Chick-filA’s presence on campus.
Despite the popular support for

discussions concerning the issue, senior
Avery McGaha said same-sex marriage is not something people should
really argue about, because he believes
it should not be restricted by the government.
“For me, at least, there should be no
debate,” he said.
McGaha participated in the voting.
He said the topic that concerns him
the most is the environment, but that it
does not make for an engaging debate
topic.
Earlier last week, an email was sent
out to the student body searching for
applicants to participate in the fourperson debate teams.
“We want everyone to participate,”
Patterson said.
She said the ideal makeup of the
teams will be two students, one faculty
member and one staﬀ member. Addi-

tionally, political organizations and action groups will be permitted to have
tables to engage students who attend
the debates, which will also be televised
by Elon Local News, air on WSOE
and covered live by The Pendulum.
Patteron said political engagement
on Elon’s campus is high relative to
that of other schools and that she hopes
the debate includes civil discourse
about the three student-selected topics,
which, she said, are clearly of importance to the campus community.
“The goal is to really get the university engaged,” Patterson said.
The last time the school held a debate of this magnitude was in 2004.
During the campaign season
What: Elon student debate
Where: Whitley Auditorium
When: 6:30 p.m. Oct. 25

”

TOP ISSUES

for North Carolinians
(acc. to Elon Poll Results)

- Economy
- Health care
- Federal budget deﬁcit

TOP ISSUES
for Elon Students
(acc. to College Coffee
voting and online poll)

- Economy
- Health care
- Same-sex marriage

News

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 • page 6

Angelou embodies themes of common reading program
Melissa Kansky
News Editor
The Fall Convocation
speaker traditionally encapsulates the vision of the institution. Maya Angelou, this
year’s speaker, emphasizes
Elon University’s commitment to diversity, analysis of
the treatment of minorities
and the value of writing.
The 20th century Renaissance woman establishes a
connection between students
and American history.
“Angelou has experienced
the issues practically all African Americans had to deal
with in the 20th century, and
she has been a spokesperson
for thinking about difference
and thinking about diversity
and how people relate to one
another,” said Jeffrey Coker,
chairman of the common
reading committee and di-

rector of general studies.
Angelou grew up in
Stamps, Ark. with her
grandmother and brother
and witnessed racial discrimination.
“She’s living history,”
said Jeff Clark, executive director of cultural and special
programs.
Angelou’s
experience
relates to the 2012 common reading selection and
the themes demonstrated
in Dave Eggers’ “Zeitoun”
prominent in cultural programming this year, according to Coker. Angelou’s
observations transcend significant moments in her own
life, especially in regards to
relations with minorities and
multiculturalism.
“I think it enhances the
liberal arts education to be
able to hear first-hand from
people who experienced im-

portant things and to hear
from people who many hold
in such high regard,” Clark
said.
Although Coker said
these issues are important to
discuss each year, the diversity initiative has provoked
increased conversation about
these topics.
“Diversity has been a
central theme of the common reading program and
the general studies program
since both of those things
were created in 1994,” he
said.
While the diversity focus
is not unique this year, Coker still noted the exceptional
qualities and experiences of
Angelou.
At the age of seven, she
was sexually abused by her
mother’s boyfriend and, as a
result, became mute for five
years. She authored and read

a poem at President Bill Cliton’s inauguration ceremony. She has taught in North
Carolina, as well as abroad.
She represents various
elements of American life.
Since the age of 17, she has
held the title of mother,
pimp, prostitute, nightclub dancer, performer, cast
member, journalist, author
and educator.
“I think the biggest attraction is her books,” Clark
said in reference to her popularity.
Senior staff and students
discussed possible speakers
for Fall Convocation, and
students mentioned Angelou’s name most frequently,
Clark said.
He attributes her renowned writing for the Elon
community’s excitement regarding her presence at Fall
Convocation. The ticket distribution has exceeded previous convocation events in
terms of numbers and time,
he said.
Students, faculty and
staff constitute 60 percent
of ticket sales. An additional
395 tickets were sold to the
general public and local
groups, such as Elon Academy and book clubs, collectively purchased 595 tickets.
The administration decided to hold the event in
the evening, rather than the
afternoon, so the speech
would be more accessible to
a larger population, provided
fewer students are in class
and fewer community members work at night, Clark
said.
“We wanted to try something kind of different because our attendance has
been up and down at convocation, so we wanted to
do this in the evening to increase attendance,” he said.
Coker said he expects
Angelou to challenge the
audience.
“There aren’t many who
can speak elegantly about

FILE PHOTO BY AL DRAGO

Selected convocation speakers traditionally represent Elon University’s
values. This year ticket sales have exceeded that of previous years.

big ideas the way she can,”
he said. “You can kind of get
caught up in the beauty of
the language and you have to
fight to appreciate the scope
of what she is saying.”
While he described her
presentation as an intellectual challenge, her stories
encourage those in attendance to view life through
her eyes and develop greater
empathy, he said.

“There is a challenging
perspective in that her life
experiences are just so diverse compared to the vast
majority of the rest of us,”
Coker said.
Angelou will speak at
“An Evening with Maya
Angelou,” 7:30 p.m. Oct.
4 in Alumni Gym. Tickets
are free for students with a
Phoenix Card and available
for $12 to the general public.

Maya Angelou was born April 4
as Marguerite Ann Johnson in
St. Louis, Mo.

1942

At the age of 14, Angelou
dropped out of school to
become San Francisco’s first
African-American female cable
car conductor.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MCT CAMPUS

Maya Angelou has published more than 30 works and is now a professor at Wake Forest University.

Q&A: Maya Angelou on advice and teaching
Maya Angelou has been described as a poet,
educator, historian, best-selling author,
actress, playwright, producer and director.
Angelou will speak at Elon University’s
annual Fall Convocation 7:30 p.m. Thursday
in Alumni Gym. She has published more
than 30 works and has earned a number of
awards including the Presidential Medal of
Freedom in 2011 and the Presidential Medal
of Arts in 2000. She is currently a Reynolds
Professor of American Studies at Wake
Forest University.
I understand you are described as a renaissance
woman and can classify yourself as a poet,
educator, historian, best-selling author, actress,
playwright, civil rights activist, producer and
director. In your opinion, what is one quality
that unifies all these identities?
The one quality I use to identify, not only
all my efforts and my labor, but me to you
is the statement that I am a human being.
That helps me to identify myself not just
with the efforts that I make, but it helps me
to identify myself with other human beings.
What was the best advice you have ever
received?
My grandmother, when I was very young,
told me, when you learn, teach and when you
get, give. It seemed so simple at the time,
but that will take you around the world.
My grandmother is an African-American
woman in a little village in Arkansas, and
she gave me the most profound advice. I
thought at the time, ‘oh please.’ She said
it so often, and now I’m beginning to get

it. And that’s advice I share willingly with
everyone, with my peers and students and
those who are superior than me in age, and
even in achievement.
To what extent do you attribute this advice to
your decision to teach?
Teaching at Wake Forest gives me a steady
platform from which I can teach. I have
traveled around the world doing the same
thing: lecturing, teaching and talking about
the movies that I direct or write and the
music. All of it. Wake Forest gives me a
permanent platform to teach, but the world
is my platform too. And yours as well.
What is your most memorable teaching moment?
Years ago I thought God had forgotten my
name. I thought I really lost it, and I was
going mad, and I went to a voice teacher
who is also kind of spiritual in a way, and I
told him I was going mad. And he asked me
would I write down my blessings. And he
gave me a yellow pad and he said to write
down that you can hear the sound of your
child’s cry. Write down that you can hear.
Write down that you can see the yellow pad
and hold the pen and think of all the people
in the world who can’t see. By the time I had
finished the first page, I was finished with
the idea of believing I had been forgotten by
the Creator. That was 50 years ago. It’s been
a long time since you’ll hear me complain.
I will protest if I don’t think it’s fair, but I
won’t complain.
Compiled by Melissa Kansky, News Editor.

1954-1955

Angelou toured Europe with the
production of the opera “Porgy
and Bess.”

1960

She moved to Cairo and worked
as editor of the English language
weekly The Arab Observer.

1961

She moved to Ghana and taught
at the University of Ghana’s
School of Music and Drama,
worked as the feature editor for
The African Review and wrote
for The Ghanaian Times.

1981

She began teaching American
Studies at Wake Forest
University.

1996

Angelou directed her first feature
film, “Down in the Delta.”

2008

She was awarded the Lincoln
Medal.

1941

As a teenager, Angelou
earned a scholarship to study
dance and drama at San
Francisco’s Labor School.

1945

Angelou gave birth to her first
son, Guy, at the age of 17.

1957

She recorded her first album.

1958

Angelou moved to New York
and joined the Harlem Writers
Guild, acted in an Off-Broadway
production and wrote and performed “Cabaret for Freedom.”

1964

Angelou met Malcolm X and
worked with him to Organization
for African American Unity.

1970

She published “I Know Why the
Caged Bird Sings,” her first of
six memoirs.

1993

Angelou composed a poem to
read at President Clinton’s inauguration ceremony.

community in Alamance County, you’ll be pretty
quick to find out they are subject to more traffic
stops than me,” he said.
Another member of Fairness Alamance
agreed with Blair.
“I don’t think it is right for someone to be
pulled over just because of the notion that they
might be a criminal,” said Brian Nienhaus, a
member of Fairness Alamance and associate professor of business communication at Elon University.
He associated the county’s activity with the
discrimination he witnessed while in graduate
school at the University of Michigan. He said he
remembers a professor who quit his position because he was tired of being pulled over.
“I’ve witnessed the phenomena of being
pulled over for driving while black and driving
while brown,” Nienhaus said. “Both of those
groups in the community have played a price for
their appearance.”
Although the county represents a real mixture
of people, the active political class is predominantly white, Nienhaus said.
Flawed results?

AL DRAGO | Staﬀ Photographer

The Alamance County Sheriﬀ’s Oﬃce has come under scruitiny following a two-year investigation conducted by the United States Department of Justice. The
recently published results allege the ACSO and Terry Johnson, the Alamance County Sheriﬀ, engaged in discriminatory policing against Latinos.

Melissa Kansky
News Editor

T

he United States Department of
Justice recently released the results
of a two-year investigation of the
Alamance County Sheriff’s Office,which stated
the ACSO and Alamance County Sheriff Terry
Johnson had violated federal law and engaged in
discriminatory policing against Latinos. Clyde
Albright, Alamance County attorney, negates
the validity of such claims and criticizes the DOJ
for not publishing details of the investigation report.
“The 12-page DOJ letter does not cite any
facts and does not identify a single person with a
single complaint,” Albright said.
Accusations of discrimination
In 2010, the DOJ informed the Sheriff’s Office and Johnson of an investigation into allegations of discriminatory acts concerning policing
and unconstitutional searches and seizures. The
DOJ published the letter to ACSO concerning
the results of the investigation Sept. 18, 2012.
“We find ACSO’s enforcement activities
have a discriminatory effect on Latinos in Alamance County in violation of DOJ’s regulations
implementing Title VI,” wrote Thomas Perez,

DOJ assistant attorney general, in the statement
concerning the investigation of the Alamance
County Sheriff’s Office.
In the letter, the DOJ indicates the ACSO
is between four to 10 times more likely to stop
Latino drivers than non-Latino drivers, locate
vehicle checkpoints in predominantly Latino
neighborhoods and improperly detain Latinos
for immigration enforcement. Such practices
violate the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments,
the DOJ argues.
“We find reasonable cause to believe that
ACSO engages in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional policing,” Perez wrote. The DOJ
gave ACSO until Sept. 30 to sign a settlement
agreement to seek negotiations and implement
structural reforms , which the office has refused.
“The County Board is interested in knowing
just what the sheriff has been accused of by the
DOJ,” Albright said.
Albright opposed the claims, asserting the investigation lacked factual evidence and criticized
the unpublished nature of the report.
“All they did was reach conclusions,” he said.
“I never saw one shred of evidence to base these
conclusions on.”
He denied the accuracy of the DOJ’s claims
that Johnson used racially derogatory epithets,
such as “taco-eater,” and said the letter was riddled with generalizations.

In response to the allegations, an attorney for
Johnson filed a letter with the DOJ Sept. 26. In
the letter, attorney Chuck Kitchen said the report
was full of inaccuracies and “based on newspaper
articles, rumors and gossip.”
Alamance County Commissioner Linda
Massey said she supports the sheriff’s opinion.
“I oppose the results,” she said. “I don’t oppose the fact that they found nothing there.”
Local support for investigation
Nevertheless, David Blair, member and
spokesperson of Fairness Alamance, said the
results confirm suspicions that members of the
group have had since 2008.
Albright alleges Fairness Alamance assisted
the DOJ with the report.
Fairness Alamance developed when Alamance County residents grew concerned with
reports of police checks and instances where
Latinos were brought into the sheriff’s office for
further processing.
“We agree with the DOJ’s findings,” Blair
said.
While Albright said there is no factual evidence to support the DOJ’s conclusion, Blair said
there was both statistical and anecdotal evidence
to support their suspicions.
“If you speak with members of the Hispanic

Alamance County commissioner Tim Sutton
said he does not believe the county has stereotyped anyone, and he has aligned himself with
the sheriff.
“I support challenging this until I find out
there is something we should be reprimanded
for and there is something we should be ashamed
of,” Sutton said. “We have our findings, and we
have what we believe.”
Sutton also described the investigation results
as flawed and a symptom of a liberal federal administration.
“The justice department is being heavily manipulated and sympathetic to the people who
claim they are being abused,” he said. “I think
another justice department under another administration would not have this opinion.”
He equated the claim of discriminatory acts
with enabling illegal immigrants to live freely in
the county. Furthermore, Sutton interpreted the
DOJ’s results as the federal government turning
a blind eye on illegal immigration.
“There are countless stories in Alamance
County of people being killed by illegal immigrants,” Sutton said. “I am in favor of strict immigration enforcement.”
In contrast to the DOJ results, Sutton said
stricter policies in the Sheriff’s Office would result in fewer accidents, fewer crimes and less drug
trafficking.
Blair said he believes such practices reduce
trust and, in turn, increase the number of crimes
that go unreported.
“The effect of policing is still based on a context of trust,” Blair said. “By cracking down on
immigration in Latino communities, we believe
the sheriff opens the door or creates an environment in which more serious crimes are less likely
to be recorded.”

News

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 • page 9

Furthermore, he said the idea that the majority of members of the Latino community are typically illegal immigrants is false. Approximately
one-quarter of Hispanic adults are unauthorized
immigrants, according to a Pew Research report
published December 2007, and a 2009 report
indicated about 4 percent of the nation’s population are unauthorized immigrants.
Furthermore, the 2009 report showed 73
percent of children of unauthorized immigrants
were born in the country and are U.S. citizens.
“We would like to see the sheriff’s department no longer targeting Latino neighborhoods
in traffic stops,” Blair said. “We would also like to
see the sheriff’s department stop targeting Latino

drivers, and we would like to see some outreach
to the Latino community.”
Impacting residents’ views
While in the letter to the DOJ, Kitchen alleges Alamance County’s incorporation of the
287(g) jail program inspired Fairness Alamance
to assist the DOJ with the investigation, Blair
said he is not opposed to local law enforcement’s
involvement in immigration law, so long as it is
done justly.
The 287(g) jail program trains local and state
law enforcement under the supervision of U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement so lo-

cal and state officers can identify, process and at
times detain those determined immigration offenders.
The county was the second in the state to
adopt the program and the eighth in the country,
according to Sutton. The DOJ decided to end
the program, which was set to expire in October.
“Fairness Alamance is not opposed to local
law enforcement being involved in immigration
law enforcement under whatever federal program,” Blair said. “Our concern is that it is done
legally and in the confines of constitutional protection.”
Nevertheless, Sutton said the DOJ’s investigation was in violation of the law.

“It’s not the country I’ve been taught about
where someone can charge something against
you without showing you the evidence,” Sutton
said.
Until the DOJ produces factual evidence to
demonstrate the ACSO’s violation, Sutton said
he is going to continue supporting the sheriff.
In the letter to the DOJ, Kitchen wrote no
remedial measures are needed and Alamance
County will not further address the issue until the
DOJ demonstrates a factual basis for the report.
The DOJ “is prepared to take prompt, appropriate legal action” if the sheriff’s office does not
agree to collaboration, according to the statement
from the DOJ. §

New program opens doors for students struggling with substance use
Katherine Blunt
News Editor

During her first group treatment
session for alcohol use, junior Lindsay
Glosson cried the whole time. Two
alcohol-related
transgressions at
Elon University
resulted in her
enrollment
in an outpatient program
at
Alamance
R e g i o n a l
Medical Center,
despite her adaLINDSAY GLOSSON
mant objections.
“I was so
mad,” she said. “I thought ‘This is not
for me, why am I here?’”
For three nights each week, she sat
alongside seven other patients struggling with alcohol and substance use
and listened as they shared their stories. For the first week, she stayed
silent.
“I thought, ‘I don’t fit any of these
profiles, I’m just in college,’” she said.
“But the more I listened to these people, the more connected I felt to them,
and the more those stigmas just dissolved.”
Now, nearly a month after her first
session, Glosson is launching a similar
program for Elon students called Open
Doors. She said the program will provide a safe space for students to share
their experiences with substance use.
Glosson partnered with Jordan
Perry, coordinator for health promotion, to design the program. In the
sessions, they hope to discuss the popular stereotypes of college culture that
influence many students’ expectations
of college.
“It’s not just for students who have

substance use problems themselves,”
Perry said. “On a college campus, virtually everyone is impacted by substance use in some way. It’s something
we see in the media all the time, and
that’s not true for every college student,
but it can certainly feel like that. I
really do think that any student can
benefit from this.”
Open Doors sessions will center
on group discussions, anecdotes and
personal experiences, much like those
of the outreach program, Glosson said.
After her first week in the program, Glosson began to open up to
the other participants. She was first
exposed to the dangers of alcohol in
2005, when two boys from her hometown of Barrington, R.I. were killed in
a drunken driving accident.
“It was hard because it was in the
town, but not as hard as it could have
been because I didn’t know the boys,”
she said.
But two years later, the same fate
claimed her friend’s boyfriend. She was
in France when the accident happened,
too far away to offer physical comfort
to the grieving family.
“It was a paralyzing feeling,” she
said. “It was so surreal.”
The next year, two friends of hers
got in a car to drive home after a party.
Both had been drinking, and the driver
hit a tree. The passenger died, and the
driver lived. If Glosson’s father hadn’t
asked her to come home early that
night, she would have been in the car
with them.
“All through high school, these
were things I was experiencing, and
they would hurt, but I didn’t walk away
from it feeling changed, she said.
“I felt sad, like I was in mourning,
but I didn’t feel like I learned anything
other than someone died.”
When Glosson arrived at Elon,

It’s a group of people who aren’t superagainst substance use and recognize it’s
a part of life, but realize there is a better
way to go about it than what we’re doing.
-Lindsay Glosson, Open Doors founder

her perception of the campus culture
matched her preconceived notions of
college life at all universities.
“The atmosphere is you go to class,
you drink and you have sex,” she said.
“That’s the culture in which we’ve
been raised and conditioned, and, consciously or unconsciously, that’s what
we associate with the term ‘college.’”
For the first time in her life, she
began experimenting with alcohol. On
Halloween of her freshman year, she
put her health in danger.
“I decided that would be my ‘go
hard’ night,” she said. “I had never
celebrated other than dressing up as a
kid, and I lined up shot glasses on my
desk in my room and knocked them
all back.”
But, her shot glasses weren’t standard size. Designed to hold jello shots,
the glasses held 2 ounces instead of 1.5
ounces. After ingesting 16 ounces of
hard liquor, she remembers posing for
a picture with her friends.
But she doesn’t remember the flash
of the camera. She doesn’t remember
heaving violently into the toilet as her
concerned friends gathered outside the
door. She doesn’t remember the resident assistant of her dorm entering the
room, followed by campus security and
a team of paramedics.
But she does remember how she

felt the next day.
“I was so embarrassed,” she said. “I
had never felt more disappointed with
myself.”
She was put on preliminary suspension and barred for one year from
studying abroad or holding a leadership position on campus.
But it didn’t stop her from drinking. During her sophomore year, her
habits worsened.
“I began blowing off schoolwork,
I wasn’t going to classes, I was blacking out on a weekly basis,” she said. “I
kept justifying it under the explanation
that I was in college. I thought it was
normal.”
By second semester that year, her
college career was in jeopardy.
“I was almost failing two of my
majors classes,” she said. “I was procrastinating and drinking all the time,
and I was seeing my friends do the
same thing. I heard people make comments about me, but none of my close
friends expressed much concern.”
At the end of that year, a second
run-in with campus security prompted
the university to express its concern.
When Glosson called her parents to
tell them what happened, she could
hear the disappointment in their voices.
“They weren’t mad, but they were
exhausted,” she said. “I had been doing

so much damage, and I felt so bad.”
Glosson spent the summer between
her sophomore and junior years reflecting on her lifestyle choices.
“I learned a lot about myself,” she
said. “I wasn’t reading pamphlets or
doing research, but I sat down and
figured out what was going on.”
She resolved to change her habits
this fall, but the school still requested her enrollment in the outpatient
program. Although she is no longer
required to participate, she still attends
sessions by choice.
“It’s a group of people who aren’t
super-against substance use and recognize it’s a part of life, but realize
there is a better way to go about it than
what we’re doing,” she said. “With the
knowledge I’ve gained, the desire to be
drunk goes away.”
Glosson said she hopes the Open
Doors program will give Elon students the same opportunity to learn
from others by listening to their stories.
In order to maintain an inclusive
environment, participants in the program will be asked not to share their
last names or affiliations with campus
organizations, Glosson said.
“Elon’s campus, although it’s a
wonderful academic environment, can
tend to be very divided,” she said.
“Whether it be sports, Greek life or
what year you are, there are all sorts
of labels. We have a stigma for everything.”
Glosson and Perry are holding an
Open Doors interest meeting 8 p.m.
Oct. 9.
“Slowly, the word is getting out,
and I’ve received an amazing amount
of support,” Glosson said. “I want to
give someone an opportunity to feel
comfortable and safe and not judged
or labeled.”

News

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 • page 10

Elon students learn about county through community engagement
Adriana Miano
Senior Reporter
When Elon University sophomore
Rachel Gilman began her teaching
practicum at Grove Park Elementary
School, she felt as if nothing could have
prepared her for the drastic diﬀerences
between the lifestyles students led and
the one she was accustomed to.
“From the first time I set foot in the
school, I was in culture shock,” Gilman
said. “But it was neat to see how even
though the students had so much less
than what I was used to, they were all
still just kids.”
In an eﬀort to take action against
the poverty she saw in the classroom,
Gilman began contributing to Grove
Park’s Backpack Friday program, which
is a weekly eﬀort to provide backpacks
filled with food to students who may
not otherwise get enough to eat over the
weekend.
Like Gilman, students in courses
taught by Cherrel Miller-Dyce, professor of education, often find the importance of civic engagement is one of the
most valuable lessons they receive.
Sophomore Ciera Martinez has also
contributed to Grove Park food drives,
and recently selected the cause as her
community service project for Alpha
Kappa Alpha’s programming week.

Martinez encouraged students to
bring food to the Alpha Kappa Alpha
house and to events hosted by the sorority, which she later delivered to the
Grove Park Baptist Church.
“I just think that people who might
have more than others should help out
those who have less,” Martinez said. “I
just feel like you shouldn’t let people suffer from not having enough food to eat
when you can do something about it.”
By participating in service activities
at Grove Park Elementary School, many
Elon University students are able to put
what they have learned into action.
Miller-Dyce’s students are required
to complete a 30-hour practicum at
Grove Park, a Title I school with many
students qualifying for free or reducedcost lunches.
After completing the practicum, students frequently contact Miller-Dyce to
discuss additional opportunities for service at Grove Park, she said.
“When our students get there, they
see that it is a Title I school, but these
children are bright,” Miller-Dyce said.
“These children are really smart, and this
school is a wonderful place to really get
involved.”
In class, Miller-Dyce said she encourages her students to examine the
ways poverty aﬀects education and encourages them to think about ways they

can help under-resourced schools.
“They learn the importance of
thinking about the world beyond themselves,” Miller-Dyce said. “They learn
the importance of Elon’s role within the
community.”
At Grove Park, students are able to
see first-hand the eﬀects of poverty they
have talked about in the classroom.
“Working at Grove Park in conjunction with taking my class, students begin
to develop an advocacy lens,” MillerDyce said. “They see the connection between the school and the lessons they’ve
received in the classroom. Some sort of
transition begins to take place for them.”
Gilman completed her practicum
during the Winter Term 2012, and said
she felt Grove Park introduced her to
a part of her community she wouldn’t
have otherwise known.
Shortly after beginning her practicum at Grove Park, Gilman learned that
nearly half of the students in her class
were relying on weekly food donations.
“It just didn’t seem right that kids
would ever have to go hungry, or especially that that could be a reason for
students not to succeed in school,” Gilman said.
The following semester, Gilman
teamed up with the Service Learning
Community and several other education students to organize a food drive,
and placed collection boxes in
Mooney and the Kernodle Center.
Gilman then delivered the
food to Grove Park Baptist
Church to be packed and delivered to students during Backpack
Friday.
“We ended up getting two
car loads full of food, and it was
a great feeling to unload them at
the church,” Gilman said.
Martinez advertised the food
drive using fliers and social media. She plans to continue coordinating donations, and hopes,
in the future, there will be more
widespread participation from
students outside the education
major.
“I know people can donate,”
she said. “But it’s sometimes hard
to get them to if they haven’t volunteered at the school.”
In addition to providing donations, many at Elon hope to
provide Grove Park students with
an understanding of the value

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Elon students donate food to Grove Park’s Backpack Friday program, which provides
backpacks full of food to students who may not otherwise eat during the weekend.

of academics. Last semester, a group of
Grove Park fifth graders were given an
opportunity to tour Elon’s campus and
interact with faculty and students across
the university.
“They were able to sit in on a class,”
said Miller-Dyce. “They sat down in the
class with Elon students, and they began
to answer questions. It was so amazing
to see them interact with Elon students
and see the Elon students begin to interact with them.”
The goal of the Elon visit was to help
the Grove Park students understand the
importance of continuing their education, and be able to picture themselves
as having successful futures, according to
Miller-Dyce.
Grove Park social worker Amber
Doby also said she feels that one of the
most important aspects of the relationship is introducing young students to
the possibility of college.
“A lot of our students don’t have
parents who went to college, and sometimes their parents didn’t graduate high
school,” Doby said. “The Elon students
complete hours here and it exposes our
kids to college students.”
The visit to Elon made a lasting impact on many Grove Park students, according to Doby.
“They enjoyed seeing the campus
and taking the tour,” she said. “One of
the kid’s moms told me her son has not
stopped talking about going to college
since, and he had never mentioned it
before the visit.”
Elon’s relationship with Grove Park
is not the only service learning partnership the university supports. Several
other service learning programs exist on
campus to promote civic engagement
intiatives.

Elon encourages civic engagement
not only to benefit the community, but
to benefit students as well, according to
Mary Morrison, director of the Kernodle Center for Service Learning and
Community Engagement.
“I think it’s part of what it means to
get a well rounded education,” Morrison
said. “Many students report that they
find it rewarding and grounding to volunteer in the community.”
The Get on The Bus program provides students with transportation to
four diﬀerent oﬀ-campus service locations, and is intended to introduce students to Elon’s most frequented community partners, according to Morrison.
Though it may provide an introductory experience, the program aims to
foster an interest in continued dedication to the community.
“I think it’s a great way for Elon students to understand the community in
which they live for four years,” Morrison
said.

Expanding Elon Academy program motivates move to larger location
Ethan Smith
Senior Reporter
The Elon Academy held an open
house to showcase its new location in
the Powell House, located across from
the tennis courts on Elon University’s
campus.
“We wanted to have an open house
so people could come and see our new
location,” said Deborah Long, director
of the Elon Academy.
The expansion of the Elon Academy program and the availability of
space in the Powell House contributed
to the decision for the Elon Academy to
move offices and feature the new space
Sept. 25.
“As our program has expanded and
we have increased our staff and services,
there became a need for a larger space,”
Long said. “The Powell House became
available when environmental studies
moved to their new home in the McMichael Building and physical therapy
education moved to the new Francis
Center.”
Approximately 75 people came to
the open house, and Long said she believes the move is beneficial for the program.
“We are very happy with the move,”
Long said. “Having our offices in a
house is inviting for our scholars and
families. We have student engagement

space for our Elon University student
mentors and workers, the parking is
accessible for visitors and we have the
Community Garden right next door.”
Nita Skillman, parent of Cummings
High School’s 2012 valedictorian Seth
Gerringer, said she attended the Elon
Academy open house to see the new
location of the organization that helped
her son successfully find his way into
Wake Forest University.
Gerringer enrolled in the Elon
Academy program when he was a
freshman at Cummings after a friend
recommended the program, according
to Skillman. As a student in the Elon
Academy program, Gerringer lived on
Elon’s campus for five weeks each summer.
“The academy gave him the chance
to be a college student and helped him
with everything from personal schedule programming to how to deal with
a roommate to providing him with academic support,” Skillman said.
According to Long, this is exactly
what the program seeks to accomplish.
“Our goal is to get them to and
through college,” Long said.
Since the academy was founded in
2007, more than 130 students and 350
family members have been supported
and guided through the program, according to the academy’s annual report
released this year.

GLORIA SO | Staﬀ Photographer

Junior Sentrell Allen (left), an Elon Academy volunteer, chats with Elon Academy senior Mariam Lopez at the Elon Academy open
house reception, held in Powell House on September 25.

The students in the academy come
from all six Alamance County high
schools and one public charter school.
Elon Academy serves students with
limited financial resources and no family

history of college attendance and helps
these students obtain scholarships to pay
for a college education.
For Gerringer’s mother, the program provided support where it was

needed most.
“The Elon Academy gave my son a
chance to go to college when he may not
have otherwise had the chance,” Skillman said.

Senior Laura Lee Sturm spoke on the importance of supporting friends and
family in their times of need and recognizing symptoms of suicide.

A circle of candles glowed in the
dark in front of Moseley Center during the National Suicide Prevention
Month Vigil.
Students and professors gathered
to remember their peers, friends and
relatives who they have lost to suicide,
and those in attendance reflected on
how those losses have affected their
own lives.
The vigil began Sept. 24 with an
address from Elizabeth Nelson, associate director for health promotion,
and Kirstin Ringelberg, LGBTQ office coordinator and professor of art
history, who spoke about the high
prevalence of suicide in the LGBTQ
community.
“If you’re given constant messages
from the media, your parents and your
places of worship that you aren’t nor-

mal, suicide might seem like it is the
only option you have,” Ringelberg said.
The opening addresses encouraged students to have respect for the
struggles individuals face, but to also
understand no one should feel alone in
his or her pain.
After a moment of silence, students
were invited to share their own stories
and feelings about their personal experiences with suicide.
“A lot of people are uncomfortable
talking about suicide,” said Laura Lee
Sturm, vice president of Spectrum and
coordinator of the vigil. “But it’s such
a big issue that affects so many people
in so many ways. And when no one
talks about it, people feel like they’re
alone.”
In planning the event, Sturm said
she originally intended for the vigil to
call attention to the high rate of suicide in the LGBTQ community. But
after reflecting on the issue, she said

she realized suicide affects a much
wider range of students across campus.
Suicide is the third leading cause
of death for people between the ages
of 15 and 24, according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sturm said she felt it was important
for students from a variety of backgrounds to stand together during the
event.
“If anything, it is a unifying factor,” Sturm said. “It’s something we all
must fight against, no matter how you
identify yourself.”
Senior Lauren Clapp said she attended the vigil because she knows
people who have committed suicide
and said she felt personally connected
with the issue addressed.
“I think it is really important that
as a community we show solidarity,”
Clapp said. “This issue is not talked
about enough, and it is really important that we bring it to the surface.”

Editorial

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 • page 12

Judge a company by its products, not its politics

Forcing out a business because you
don’t agree with its political or financial
decisions or owners’ moral beliefs is
neither a fair nor sustainable practice.
How many shirts do you own from
Urban Outfitters? How many pizzas
have you ordered from Domino’s since
you arrived at Elon University?
You might be surprised to find
that executive leaders of each of those
companies have donated money to
conservative causes. Richard Hayne,
CEO of Urban Outfitters, has donated
more than $13,000 to Rick Santorum,
a former candidate for the Republican
presidential nomination. Domino’s
Pizza founder Tom Monaghan financially supports pro-life organizations
such as Right to Life and Operation
Rescue.
Both companies are just two of a
multitude of prominent businesses that
have been criticized for their donations
to controversial causes. Businesses like
Domino’s and Urban Outfitters and
their leaders have been condemned by
LGBTQ activists for, according to the
Human Rights Campaign, having “donated millions to groups that demonize (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender)
people on a daily basis.”
But here at Elon, only Chick-filA has been singled out as a threat to
Elon’s non-discrimination policies,
despite students patronizing businesses
and organizations whose leaders hold
views similar to Chick-fil-A’s.
Recent controversy has erupted
concerning statements made by Dan
Cathy, the president and chief operating oﬃcer of Chick-fil-A, regarding
marriage and the company’s donations
to Exodus International and the Family Research Council, organizations
with anti-gay marriage stances.
After Cathy’s declaration, Americans from both ends of the political
spectrum turned their attention to
Chick-fil-A, bombarding the company
with both criticism and praise. The
controversy surrounding this statement does not involve the product, but
where the customers’ money is going.
The future of Chick-fil-A on campus hangs in the balance. When Cathy
first expressed his support for the idea
of “traditional marriage,” Elon began
considering the removal of Chick-filA from campus, according to Smith
Jackson, vice president and dean of
Student Life.

CLAIRE ESPARROS | Photo Editor

The decision whether to remove or keep Chick-ﬁl-A on campus should be based oﬀ community opinion of the quality of its products, not the personal beliefs of its leaders.

Recently, Spectrum, Elon’s queerstraight alliance, submitted legislation
to the Student Government Association to remove Elon’s Chick-fil-A
franchise from campus.
Following a brief suspension of its
proposal to further investigate Chickfil-A’s recent announcement that it
would “not ... support political or social
agendas,” Spectrum’s resolution has
been resubmitted for a vote by SGA
Oct. 11.
But despite the considerable outcry
of student opinion about the propriety
of Chick-fil-A’s presence on campus,
the university will be the sole party
involved in making the final decision.
We acknowledge the intentions
of inclusivity behind Spectrum’s proposal. However, we fear the removal of
Chick-fil-A from campus would set a
dangerous precedent for the university.
People have the right to individually boycott a franchise, but not
to enact policy to shut one down and
prohibit others from making a choice

to patronize it.
It would mark the first step of a
slippery slope at Elon for Spectrum or
anyone else to suggest the university
should sever business ties with any
company because of its leaders’ beliefs.
First and foremost, Spectrum
should not assume that their beliefs are
fundamentally “right, ” while equating
those who align with Cathy’s beliefs as
“wrong.” There are Elon students who
share similar beliefs to those held by
Chick-fil-A: How are their beliefs any
less valid than Spectrum’s?
This slope would get even slipperier
if Chick-fil-A were removed from
campus because the university believes
it to clash with our policies. We would
then be expected to re-evaluate the
business practices of every company
the university deals with.
If we are so intent on evaluating
every business based oﬀ their aligning
with our non-discrimination policies,
then this would be an arduous task.
Kicking Chick-fil-A oﬀ campus

simply because some of us do not
agree with its COO’s beliefs would
not paint us as a very open-minded
community.
Rather, it sends a message to
students that we are, in fact, not free to
have our own beliefs. That, by belonging to a university, we are confined
to its specifically outlined ideals and
principles.
Being a part of the Elon community means we have a responsibility
to acknowledge and display tolerance
toward those whose ideals may contradict our own. If the only people we are
willing to tolerate are those who agree
with us, that’s not tolerance.
Consider the examples we
mentioned earlier: Are you willing
to publicly renounce shopping at
Urban Outfitters, or buying pizza at
Domino’s, because you don’t like their
leaders’ morals?
Because when it comes down to
it, who has the right to distinguish
the “good” companies from the “bad”

companies? The pro-gay rights groups
or the abortion protestors? The people
who are fighting child slavery, or the
people who are disgusted by a company’s environmental practices? Who
is actually “right” in this case? And in
our particular situation, who should
say that gay rights is the foremost issue
people should be focusing on while
ignoring other businesses’ practices?
Simply put, Cathy has the right to
say what he said, and Chick-fil-A has
the right to fund groups that oppose
gay marriage. And people have the
right to make their own decisions to
patronize or boycott the business.
But if we have arrived at the point
where students try to petition the
power of their government to prevent
a business from expanding simply because they disagree with the religious
views of its president, we will have
finally arrived at the bottom of that
slippery slope.
Remember: Discrimination in response to discrimination is still wrong.

Opinions

Eat mor chikin, if u so chuse

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 • page 13

Chick-fil-A, which should be a sign
that our goals should be reprioritized.
To the LGBTQ community, shouldn’t
we be turning our attention to the
government, who has the power to
give us what we want, and not a business that has always lived by biblical
standards?
If Spectrum were to remove
Chick-fil-A from our campus, it
would not be looked upon as a major
step towards LGBTQ rights five years
from now. It would be seen by the
majority of the student population as
losing chicken sandwiches.
I had Chick-fil-A for the first time
in eight months this past week, and it
tasted the same as it did eight months
ago. Because that meal is not the
symbol or martyr that we are looking
for. It is a chicken sandwich.

Chick-fil-A and same sex marriage: two terms that have no reason
to belong in the same thought, yet
have been at war for the past two
months. Both sides—those who
support same-sex marriage and those
who support the fast food chain—
have exhausted the issue. And this is
not coming from a neutral source: I
am a member of the LGBTQ community.
It is no secret that Chick-fil-A
has historically sided with traditional
family values, so it should have come
as no surprise when Dan Cathy,
president and chief operating oﬃcer,

said on the record that he supports
the “traditional family,” which means
no gay marriage. Yet to millions across
the country, this was either an unwelcome surprise or a breath of fresh air.
The controversy hit close to home
at Elon when Spectrum, the university’s queer-straight alliance, proposed
legislation to remove Chick-fil-A
from campus on the grounds that the
franchise contradicts Elon’s discrimination policy.
While Spectrum’s proposal was
briefly suspended pending further
consideration of Chick-fil-A’s spending practices, the fact of the matter is,
it never should have been proposed.
As a gay student at Elon, I am well
aware and accept that Chick-fil-A
does not support the rights that I deserve. What I do not accept is Spec-

trum feeling the need to push their
opinions down the school’s throat.
I wholeheartedly agree with
The Pendulum’s stance on this issue
because Chick-fil-A is a business that
is entitled to its own opinions. It is my
personal decision to not eat at Chickfil-A. I have friends that feel the same
and friends who do not, but by no
means does it change my opinion of
the franchise.
If I were to go around worrying
about everyone who does not agree
with me, nothing would ever get
done, and I would have no friends. It
is comparable to the fact that I have
friends who are voting for Romney,
and by no means do I believe they
have any less belief in my rights than
I do.
As someone who identifies as gay,

I understand that it is only a part of
myself, albeit a major one. I am able to
put that aside, though, in order to see
the Chick-fil-A debacle has gone on
for far too long.
I would rather associate myself
with a group that practices acceptance
rather than preaches it, and accepts
rather than attacks. The LGBTQ
community needs to realize it was not
Chick-fil-A that declared “Chickfil-A Appreciation Day” — rather,
it took no stance on the issue. It was
politicians such as Mike Huckabee,
Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann
that brought out the dynamite, and
the LGBTQ community proceeded
to ignite it.
The reaction to the passing of
Amendment One did not even come
close to the animosity felt toward

Our nation has a long history
of voters who go to the polls to cast
their ballot for or against a candidate based
on a single
issue. From
gun rights
to affordable health
care, abortion
rights to
renewed tax
policies, far
too many
Dan Quackenbush
voters have
Columnist
cast their
ballots with
only one issue on their minds, and
have potentially shifted the political
history of this nation.
Whether this trend has impacted
us for better or worse, no one knows.
But the trend of single-issue voting in the United States is quickly
becoming more dangerous than it is
contributory.
Single-issue voting has long been
the proverbial “litmus test” used to
gauge public interest, or intensity
of feeling, on an issue. This trend is
perhaps the most noticeable within
the youth demographic of American
voters. On college campuses across
the country, student voters are turning to issues that they feel they can

understand and are subsequently
rededicating all of their attention
and resources toward raising public
awareness of that one particular
issue.
But single-issue voting is only
one part of a larger, more dangerous
phenomenon known as single-issue
politics. Single-issue politics is, to
me, the closest thing to what is
currently poisoning our system of
government.
Not in the sense that we are a
single-issue government, but that
our major parties refuse to compromise in order to provide for the
public good.
Single-issue voters are usually not
open to compromise—It’s the classic
“my way or the highway” mentality taken to a more serious level. To
openly admit that your position on
your chosen issue is debatable is to
show weakness. Weakness doesn’t
win elections.
Therefore, weakness or signs of
compromise of any kind are quickly
eradicated from the list of options.
This is where single-issue politics
becomes a huge problem.
By allowing young voters to put
all their eggs into the single-issue
campaign basket, we are essentially
saying the overwhelming state of our
country is unimportant to us. In this

case, the sum of all puzzle pieces is
insignificant compared to the one
individual piece.
Issues typically associated with
single-issue voting usually boil down
to one of three categories of public
interest: violation of a constitutional
right, conflicting moral principles or
a threat to American ideals or our
general way of life.
These issues are usually very
controversial and often thrust existing racial, economic or class divisions
further into the public eye. Abortion, aﬃrmative action and universal
healthcare are just a few examples.
Single-issue voting is counterproductive to our democratic
system, and often proves to be more
detrimental than anticipated.
Too many voters fail to recognize
the ultimate irony of single-issue
politics: that by voting for a candidate based oﬀ one issue, you may be
helping elect the very person who
will enact laws that combat all of
your other ideals.
Voting for a candidate because he
or she shares your stance on abortion
may not mean as much if his or her
proposed tax policies stand to take
even more money out of your pocket.
Frankly, it is nearly impossible to
find the perfect candidate in politics
today. Odds are, you will never come

across a candidate
who stands above
the rest as the perfect
politician, powerful
and elegant with a
perfectly-reasoned yet
neutral stance on every
issue. I think you will
find that no matter
who the candidate
is, or what party they
represent, you are going to have a problem
with their position on
one issue or another.
But the question is
this: Is any single issue
important enough
for us to completely
withdraw support
from a candidate, one
who has the chance
to win and possibly
PHOTO COURTESY OF MCT CAMPUS
change our country for
American voters alter the results of every election by
the better?
choosing to endorse a candidate over one speciﬁc issue.
If you’re a singletic about your own contributions
issue voter, ask yourself
to society.
another question. Is the issue you’re
So when November rolls
crusading for something that is
around and you’re getting ready
absolutely paramount to the safety,
to punch that ballot, consider
prosperity and continued functionthis: Will you be happy about
ing of our country?
voting for someone over one issue
Both questions invite considerwhen they will ultimately clash
able self-evaluation of your standards
with your beliefs on another?
and require you to be more realis-

The following column was written by
a member of The Pendulum staff and
represents the views of one individual,
not the entire staff.

Voters punish selves through single-issue voting

International
Wednesday, October 3, 2012 • page 14

Paradox in paradise: an island with a dark past

Greg Zitellli
International Reporter

DAKAR, SENEGAL — Goree,
a picturesque island just two
kilometers from Dakar’s harbor,
provided my
first refreshing escape
from the
busy, dirty
city of Dakar
to a serene,
beautiful
island still
dotted with
colonial era
GREG ZITELLI
buildings
and cobblestone paths. The air
is clearer, with a fresh Atlantic
breeze coming off the ocean.
For the first time, I felt as
though I could think and relax,
far from honking taxis, roaring
construction sites and the smell
of garbage. Goree is absolute paradise. The only current negative
I can conjure of the island is the
aggressive vendors, who guilt-trip
tourists into buying their cheap
knick-knacks. But after escaping
to the north end of the island,
which faces directly towards the
depths of the Atlantic Ocean,
visitors can find peace staring into
the waves and seek relief from the
relentless heat courtesy of a steady
breeze.
Unfortunately, the pleasures
of Goree are matched with a
sharp pang of guilt because of the

KATHERINE WISE | International Editor

Goree Island is a popular tourist destination in Senegal. Its picturesque beaches and architcture shadow its dark past involvement with the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

island’s very dark history. Over
the past few decades, the island
has developed into a physical
reminder of the Trans-Atlantic
slave trade that dehumanized millions of Africans, tore tribes apart
and terrorized much of Western
Africa. Goree was a final stop-

KATHERINE WISE | International Editor

The Maison des Esclaves, or the House of Slaves, was said to be the the ﬁnal stopping point for departing slaves in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

ping point for thousands of people
before departing Africa to become
slaves in the Americas. Its strategic location as the western most
point in Africa, its close proximity
to Dakar and its long history of
affluent European settlement have
made Goree a sought-after island
by European powers since the
15th century.
The most famous landmark on
the island, Maison des Eslaves, or
the House of Slaves, has become
a symbol of near mythological
proportions as the final destination before slaves boarded ships
in shackles. This story has been
questioned in recent years, as
some studies suggest the cavernous basement of the Maison des
Eslaves may have simply been
used for storing supplies instead
of providing a dungeon for slaves.
As a result, some of the emotional
reaction is lost through personal
skepticism. After all, I feel as
though the stories the guides
relate to the tour groups may

be based more on legend than
fact.
Despite this skepticism, Goree
is still an important symbol for
the slave trade. It is essential for
everyone to have a location to
reflect on the atrocities slavery
inflicted on mankind, especially
in this era where many caucasains
would prefer to forget in order
to be cleansed of responsibility.
It doesn’t matter if the number
of slaves that passed through
Goree was in the hundreds of
thousands, or just one. The fact
that European powers captured,
shackled and sent millions of Africans to the Americas for forced
labor is an act that must not be
forgotten. Americans and people
around the globe are often told
“Never Forget” or “Never Again”
in regards to the Holocaust and
other modern genocides, but as
a people, we often overlook what
Americans and Europeans did to
the native Africans between the

1500s and the 1900s. We must
never forget what we did, and
Goree is an important part of this
continued education and remembrance. It is the symbol that
Senegalese, Africans and the rest
of mankind need in order to keep
the legacy of slavery in our hearts
and minds.
Similar to my other encounters
in Senegal, Goree is a paradox
of physical pristine beauty on an
island with an ugly past. The most
beautiful part of the day was the
return ferry trip, where a school
group of local Senegalese students
broke into song for nearly 20 minutes. Their rhythmic beats, dancing and smiles throughout the ride
were a powerful reminder that
Africa is moving forward and not
looking back. The entire continent
has been ravaged by awful events
that would shake the strongest
of civilizations, but the people —
particularly the youth —of Africa
can only look forward to building
a better future.

International
Wednesday, October 3, 2012 • page 15

London Design Festival continues art legacy
Mary Kate Brogan
International Reporter
LONDON — During the weeks following
the close of the Paralympics, visitors to Trafalgar Square, a cultural center in the city of London, found an interesting object in the middle
of the square: a large black metal orb.
To passersby, it probably looked like an eyesore, but to those emerging from it, this exhibition was eye-opening.
The artistic display, called “BE OPEN
Sound Portal,” was just one of more than 300
events set up by The London Design Festival,
which ran Sept. 14 - 23 throughout the city.
The portal played diﬀerent pre-recorded musical soundtracks daily for those who entered the
orb. Designed to surround listeners with sound,
this miniature concert hall was an oasis placed
in the middle of one of London’s busiest centers, according to Mel Taccay, a volunteer at the
exhibit.
The location, because it was in the middle
of one of the city’s biggest tourist attractions,
made this exhibit particularly interesting to
many people. Locals Lara Wind and Kristina Charchalis had been passing through the
square when their friends said they wanted to
take a look at what the exhibit was all about.
Wind said they had been expecting a live
music performance, but they still enjoyed the
exhibit.
“The installation just has all the speakers
surrounding it,” Charchalis said. “And when
you close your eyes, you sort of get more of the
sensory perspective of it because it sort of surrounds you, and it’s really lovely, but I guess it’s
a bit diﬀerent to what you’d normally expect

when you see live music.”
The Sound Portal is just
the tip of the iceberg when
it comes to some of the
festival’s previous innovative installations. The festival, now in its 10th year,
has featured life-size chess
pieces and robotic arms
from Audi factories which
were designed to write
LED light messages in the
air, Taccay said. Next year,
she said, it could be completely different.
This year has been particularly interesting for arts
in the city because, while
London mayor Boris Johnson has continually made
art and culture a priority
MARY KATE BROGAN | International Reporter
since he has been in oﬃce, The exhibit, shown on the right, was in Trafalger Square, the center of the city’s most sophisticated architecture.
the artists commissioned
to work on Olympic projbid, with improvements in transportaects had to work extra hard for the big event.
tion and the arts to accommodate and
Although some residents like Taccay thought
entertain the large numbers of people
London’s high standards for artistic projects
who would be coming to the city.
would begin and end with the Olympics and
“When we first got the bid, evParalympics, they have been pleasantly surerybody’s like, ‘Oh no, everything’s
prised by the continued high standards for magonna be a bit different,’” Taccay
jor arts projects in the city.
said about the city becoming busier
“London’s just turned into a crazy town but
before the Olympics. “But it’s not
a good crazy town,” Taccay said. “We thought
really changed anybody’s opinion
(after the Olympics) that London would turn
that much. If anything, everybody’s
into its, ... I don’t want to say, miserable, sad self
proper into it, proper into London
but no — it’s been brilliant.”
at the moment, and to be honest, I
MARY KATE BROGAN | International Reporter
Taccay says that the atmosphere in London
probably wouldn’t have it any other Spectators queue up at the BE OPEN
Sound Festival exhibit.
The festival went from Sept. 14-23.
has been great since the city got the Olympic
way.”

Italian candidate Matteo Renzi preaches change in election season
Sally Van Denover
International Reporter
FLORENCE, ITALY — It is election season, and not just in the United States. The
race for the Italian Senate, and ultimately
Italy’s Presidente del Consiglio, or Prime
Minister, has begun. Matteo Renzi, the
youngest mayor of Florence at 37, is running for Parliament and prime minister.
The multi-party election for the Italian
Parliament, selected by the citizens, will be
held in April 2013.
Renzi, who is popular with the public,
is running as part of the main center-left
Democratic Party, or DP. Renzi recently returned from the Democratic Convention in

the United States. He is using a platform
many Americans are familiar with: change.
“When most of today’s politics were in
Parliament, we were in kindergarten,” Renzi
said, while speaking in Verona at a convention called “Future, Europe, Merit,” according to Italian newspaper Gazzetta del Sud.
The call for change in Italy is asking the
younger generation to follow its political
passions and for the older generation to step
aside for new leaders. Experienced Italian
politicians deem Renzi, a former marketing
executive an unfit comedian, saying he has
the appearance, but is not qualified.
Twenty-two-year-old Italian student Jacopo Frallicciardi said he supports Renzi and
is happy to be rid of the former Italian prime

minister, Silvio Burlusconi, who has been associated with various financial scandals, such
as embezzlement, during his ministry. He
was eventually voted out of office and briefly
replaced by Mario Monti. Burlusconi, the
three-time appointed prime minister and
founder of the 2007 center-right, catchall party People of Freedom, with roots in
Christian and social democracy, is attempting to return to politics and is also running
in the primaries.
“Berlusconi was a crook and a thief,” Frallicciardi said. “It’s time for a new perspective. I would love to see the liberals win, but
I know that (political issues that I am interested in, such as) gay marriage will never be
accepted because of our Catholic roots.”

Still, there is hope for the young Florentine mayor. Although the race has just started, the Italian public thus far, is on board
with the road to change. According to the
polls reported by IOL News, 37 percent of
Italians support Renzi, with only 27 percent
in support of his Democratic Party opponent, Pier Luigi Bersani.
Renzi, known for his embracing and
personable spirit, is campaigning across the
country. Starting in Verona and making his
way through 108 Italian provinces, Renzi is
spreading his message and connecting with
the citizens.
If his popularity with the public continues, Italy could see a shift towards socially
liberal changes.

e is a white male from a middle-class
family. He grew up in a suburb of
Chicago. He is a college professor. He
photographs and studies coal-mining communities.
He likes to read.
And he used to be homeless.
Ken Hassell, associate professor of art and art
history at Elon University, has seen the worst of
what life has to oﬀer, including the consequences
of poverty. Despite his struggles, he doesn’t consider
himself a typical survivor of homelessness, a typical
professor or a typical husband. There is no typical
according to Hassell.
“You think of all the diﬀerent identities,” he said.
“And within each one of those identities there are
multiple possibilities as well. Identity is not one
thing. It’s many things. We are many things. And
those things are changing.”
Opening on a different beat

STEPHANIE BUTZER | Senior Reporter

Hassell, born in 1946, tasted the first sour flavor
of categorical culture in high school. Cliques developed and it seemed like identities were set in stone.
He did not fit into any of them. He was diﬀerent
and thought there was something wrong with him.
“I don’t know that I overtly really thought, ‘What
is my identity?’” Hassell said. “But I struggled with
who I thought I was versus the norm out there.”
Hassell found companionship with some unusual men: the school’s greasers. The 20-year-olds
rode motorcycles to the school from which they had
not yet graduated. But Hassell came to appreciate
them. They were diﬀerent from the other “normal”
students, and so was he.
Even though Hassell had discovered a comfortable niche, the strains of schoolwork and socialization remained the same. He was not a great student,
just barely graduating high school in 1964.
But Hassell’s love for literature helped him earn
high SAT scores. He was admitted to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, but the experience was not what he expected. The structured
learning and undisputed social norms dumbfounded him and he dropped out to partake in the antiVietnam War protests in the mid-1960s.
Money started to become a problem. Hassell
tried driving cabs in Chicago to make a living. He
appreciated the passengers who were willing to converse with him during the ride. But sometimes the
job was horrible and produced a lot of anxiety.
Once, Hassell drove a cab with a broken brake. It

took him half a block to come to a standstill, so he
had to anticipate when he would have to pull over.
Another time, the engine shut oﬀ as he was driving
on Dan Ryan Expressway, a major highway in Chicago. Sometimes the cab worked fine, but the riders
treated him like the dregs of society.
“You wouldn’t get fares or sometimes you’d get
very diﬃcult people,” Hassell said. “People would
objectify you because they were paying you and
therefore you were just an object to fulfill their
wishes.”
Living fully with nothing
As a gangly 6-foot-1-inch, 120-pound man,
Hassell moved to San Francisco in hope of finding
a place he could fit in and find a job. He was incredibly poor and lived in transient hotel rooms. Even if
a job was undesirable, Hassell accepted it to survive.
Most of the work he shouldered was physical
labor. He loaded and unloaded tractor-trailers in
100-degree weather. He was a forklift operator. He
assembled commercial sewing machines in a factory.
The manual labor didn’t bother Hassell — he
liked the workout. Nevertheless, the work did not
fulfill his craving to make a change in the world.
Each job seemed to be a failure, but he knew they
were necessary for him to get by. Hassell began talking to his coworkers in order to make light of the
uninspiring workdays.
“I liked the people I worked with,” Hassell said.
“They were common working people and I got to
really know them and like them very much and later
on, I would devote my work as an artist to that.”
Hassell also acquired a job throwing advertisements to people’s doors. Sometimes, he would walk
around the financial districts of San Francisco. People struggled to see beyond his long hair and ragged
clothes.
“Because I was poor, I had nothing and I
looked that way,” Hassell said. “The way people
looked at me, I knew what they were thinking: I
didn’t belong there. I was not wanted.”
But Hassell pushed past the disdainful people and continued working.
As he went from job to job, he realized he
was becoming more resilient. The work also
taught him he would be able to survive, no matter what the conditions were.
Many people were in the same bleak situation. Hassell loved to interact with interesting
and unfamiliar minds. With each conversation,
he learned more about the identity of an individual.
“I met people who were just really way out

Features

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 • page 17

there and quite strange to brilliant people who were
on hard times,” Hassell said. “A whole range of
things.”
These conversations aﬀected him for the rest of
his life. He appreciated the people he met and was
never tempted to place them into categories.
Over the edge of poverty
Finances hit an all-time low when Hassell was
homeless for a year. He found work where he could
and although this was a diﬃcult time, he said he
does not regret this period in his life. It became a very
important time for him and he said he embraces the
experiences he had.
“It taught me how to be very resourceful,” Hassell said. “I had to find ways of existing.”
Hassell learned he would not perish if he did not
have everything he thought he needed to survive. He
had little shelter, food and water, but they were the
true essentials and he said he was thankful to have
them.
Homelessness taught Hassell that poverty was
not just a lack of money and resources. It was a somber psychological experience where people did not
respect him as a human being.
Hassell hit a stroke of luck when he was oﬀered
a job in the parts department at a Fiat dealership in
Wisconsin.
One day, a woman came in with a Fiat Spider
in need of repair. Hassell liked the way she talked to
him and got her phone number oﬀ the repair order.
Her name was Annie.
Hassell dialed the number and asked if she
would go out on a date with him.
“I must have sounded pretty creepy,” Hassell said.
“But six weeks later, we got a date to get married.
And that was 37 years ago.”
After their marriage, Hassell assumed he would

STEPHANIE BUTZER | Senior Reporter

Hassell talks to a group of Periclean Scholars.

work at more attractive labor jobs. At the same time,
he knew he would never fit into the world of a mainstream worker. Annie was a research scientist and
was paid well.
The unconventional jobs Hassell took up were
disappointing. He became very depressed because,
yet again, he did not feel like he was making a difference in the world. Annie helped Hassell realize
he had that potential, just like all the people around
him.
With his wife’s encouragement, Hassell went
back to school to pursue an art and teaching degree. While he was at Milwaukee Institute of Art
and Design and graduate school at the University
of Wisconsin, the pair was very poor, even though
Hassell worked part-time.
After his graduation, Hassell and Annie moved
to Philadelphia, where Annie landed a job at Glaxo
Smith-Kline. Hassell continued to work part-time.
In the summer of 1990, they arranged to relocate
to North Carolina. Annie was oﬀered a job at Glaxo
Smith-Kline in Research Triangle Park in Raleigh.
However, before they headed down south, they took
a vacation to England for a couple weeks. Hassell
said he cannot put his finger on why they were so
attracted to England, but believes it has to do with
the country’s people.
“Sometimes we can think we like to go places
because they’re diﬀerent, which is true, but I really
like the English people,” Hassell said. “Some people
are very critical and describe them as aloof and unfriendly. I don’t find that at all. I like the English way.”
Hassell said in England he did not feel like he
had to censor himself, like he did for most of his
younger years. The people he met were open. Their
culture was an instant fascination for Hassell.
However, Hassell had obligations in the United
States. He knew it would be diﬃcult to find a teaching job for artists in a university and started looking
around for work. He had never heard of Elon University, but after interviewing to be an art professor,
he was hired immediately by Clair Myers, dean of
arts and humanities at the time. The couple moved
to Hillsborough soon after.
Hassell has worked at Elon nine years part-time
and 12 years full-time, leading to a 21-year career
at the university. All of his classes, including the
Global Experience and Photography as Social Critique, taught students how to view and understand
people in a complex yet open way. He challenges his
students to avoid making assumptions but supports
them as they struggle to open their minds.
“He makes students feel like they have something to contribute and like they’re important to
him,” said junior Caroline Hood. “It makes students
want to learn more from him.”
Hassell’s love for London led him to take a group
of students on a Winter Term study abroad to the
city for an ethnographic study of immigrant communities for nine years.
“When I’m there, I probably walk ten miles a day
because it’s so wonderful to walk around and experience,” Hassell said.
Back at Elon, Hassell is as engaged in the school
as the students are. The environment fits the dynamic atmosphere he has always searched for. He

STEPHANIE BUTZER | Senior Reporter

Hassell has been working in the art department at Elon University for 21 years, and plans to retire next year.

said his good friends here are brilliant people with
incredible minds so the discussions are always bright
and intriguing.
One of Hassell’s best friends at Elon is Kirstin
Ringelberg, a professor of art history and coordinator of the LGBTQ oﬃce. They’ve known each other
for nine years.
The deep and profound conversations started
when Ringelberg first visited Elon. She was impressed by the knowledgeable conversation they had
during the interviews and all the ones they have had
since.
“We’d be interested in something, talk about
something and then it would turn into a conversation about the meaning of life,” Ringelberg said.
Hassell said Ringelberg gave him the confidence
to accomplish everything he sets out to do. He faced
many obstacles in his younger years because he felt
his dreams were out of reach. Now, Hassell said it’s
remarkable to feel that he can do anything.
Nonstop creation and discovery
Hassell said he is lucky to be doing something
he thoroughly enjoys. He did not expect to be where
he is today based on the circumstances earlier in his
life.
“I got here, I worked hard,” he said. “But there

were also people here to help me out. We all get
help or can seek help. That’s a very important thing.
That’s not a weakness. That is a strength.”
The jobs Hassell tolerated before have now determined what is important to him and why. He
came to care about people in low-income situations
or those deemed worthless based on their position
in life.
Last summer, Hassell presented his written
work on identity at conferences in Harvard University and in Liverpool. This experience allowed him
to explore a separate side of himself and he said he
is excited to develop it more.
Through these intense studies, Hassell discovered more about identity and how it influences society. It is a fluid thing, forever reorganizing itself.
“We’re complex, we’re changing all the time,”
Hassell said. “You have this range of things and
you can actually be in multiple locations in terms of
those identities.”
Hassell will retire in a year and a half, but he does
not plan on slowing down. He aspires to move to
London with his wife for a year. He wants to write
a book. But most of all, Hassell wants to continue
examining identity, the extraordinary people in the
world and the ideas that spring from their heads.
“Ideas are just fascinating,” Hassell said. “I get so
excited about them.” §

We all get help or can seek help. That’s a very
important thing. That’s not a weakness, it’s a
strength.
- Ken Hassell, assosciate professor of art and art history

Features

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 • page 18

From the Internet to Alamance, Campus Grumble could capture student complaints
Kaitlyn Stahl
Reporter
When complaints such as Acorn Coﬀee Shop
lines and internship requirements pile up on social
media, the Elon University administration might
not hear about it.
This might change with the launch of Campus
Grumble, a new website that launched at Elon Sept.
7. It intends to publicize students’ commentary and
feedback.
“I realized that small, everyday annoyances and
even sometimes major problems, flew under the
radar of the administration very frequently,” said
creator and Wake Forest University graduate John
Kirkpatrick “I decided to make a platform where
students and administrators can collaborate on issues and make things a lot easier and eﬃcient.”
Campus Grumble is just that — a fast way to
make complaints to a specific university’s administration.
The site currently features only four schools:
Wake Forest University, Davidson College, High
Point University and Elon University.
The website is straightforward and user-friendly,
according to Kirkpatrick. Any student, after registering with his or her university email, can submit a
grumble, or a statement of an issue on campus that
students want resolved by their administration.
Kirkpatrick said the site is not campus-bashing
because complaints will be written in detail and
suggest potential solutions. The author’s name will
also be attached to all grumbles, which wards oﬀ
anonymous slandering.

Students may also “mumble” their grumbles,
which promotes a complaint and helps administrators see what issues are most important to the
students.
Once a university agrees to be aﬃliated with
the site, all grumbles will be sent to the administration in a monthly report. At this time, Elon has
not begun its aﬃliation with the site, according to
Dan Anderson, vice president of University Communications.
Should the university comply, students will have
the opportunity to voice concerns about issues all
over campus. They would also have the promise that
the university is at least considering the suggestions
students sent.
Kirkpatrick developed the idea in his living
room and after a few months of planning and mapping later, it was launched.
“My hope for the project is that it will continue to expand from its grassroots launch in just
four North Carolina schools to many more campuses nationwide,” Kirkpatrick said. “I think it will
be successful as long as administrations can realize
that face-to-face communication is definitely valuable, but they have to respect that the convenience
my platform brings gets them the information they
need while being more convenient for the student.”
Kirkpatrick travels to campuses to meet with
administrators and ensure the site is working properly. He knows it is essential to account for how
diﬀerent administrations function. He focuses on
showing the administration the website’s convenience. Beyond a platform for students to complain,
it is also a place for potential students to learn about

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY GLORIA SO | Staﬀ Photographer

Campus Grumble is available at only four universities, including Elon. It is designed to give students a place
to ﬁle complaints that administrators have access to and have already agreed to check regularly.

a university.
“As a student or a prospective student, if you see
an administration solving and responding to problems publicly that are aﬀecting your campus, it really
makes you feel proud and attracts you to the school,”
Kirkpatrick said.
Elon students can also see its potential success.
Some said it could be a good source of improvement
in the school. And while others said they would not
personally use it, they think it would be used on
campus.
“I would be curious to see what kinds of com-

plaints would come up,” said sophomore Susanna
Dechant. “I think it will be a useful tool because
even though students can talk to SGA, an online
service would be easier for those who don’t bring
complaints to SGA. It’s less formal and time-consuming.”
Kirkpatrick said he had that in mind while creating the platform. By using the site’s values of accountability, collaboration and communication, he
plans to build a new bridge between students and
university administration. And that’s something few
would grumble about.

Elon University seal still represents history, future of institutional values

Alex Francis
Reporter

Two columns
signify the power and strength
central to Elon and its students.

Dissecting

th

al
se

The all seeing eye
demonstrates the watchful entity that
presides over the school, students
and faculty, the campus and all
those involved with Elon University.

e

What now stands as a nationally recognized institution was once struggling college with 200 students in three buildings.
In 1911, following the resignation of President
William Staley, who chose to continue pastoring his
church in Virginia, new President William Harper
sought to address three of the main issues aﬀecting the development and progress of Elon College:
gaining accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, absolving the debt the
college had racked up and working to secure funding for desperately-needed new buildings
During that time, a professor of psychology and
mathematics named Walton Wicker began to develop what is now the Elon University seal, hoping
to solidify Elon’s new commitments.
“The seal represents the goals and objectives we
have for our students, which have not changed over
the past 120 years,” said George Troxler, professor
emeritus of history.
Wicker relied on his vast knowledge of masonic
symbolism in order to use the seal to represent the
core values that Elon still holds today.

“The fact that Numen Lumen is the oﬃcial
Latin motto matches well with what the university
represents: spiritual and intellectual light,” said Dan
Anderson, vice president of University Communications.
Despite the changes that have taken place on
campus since the seal was created, it has only been
modified once. In 2001, when Elon College oﬃcially became a university, the school implemented
the name change on the seal, but the rest remained
intact.
“The seal held a more important significance
back then,” Troxler said. “It was more important
in the early years of Elon than it is today because
the school was young and still struggling and did
not have a strong identity. It was the symbol that
showed Elon’s goals and objectives because Elon did
not have a strong identity at that point.”
Today, the seal is used only in oﬃcial university
business and can be seen at important university
events such as Convocation and Commencement.
“We do not use it as a logo in any sense of the
word,” Anderson said. “Its use is for oﬃcial documents like diplomas and contracts. The other main
use is in the Oﬃce of the President as the oﬃcial
and formal logo of the business of the university.”

The lamp and ﬂame
represents light Elon hopes to
spread across the world.
The books
one representing knowledge and the other culture,
embody the value the
university gives not only to
the academic improvement,
but that students use their
knowledge for the betterment of the world.
The Bible
represent the religious values and
ideals the university was founded on.

Arts & Entertainment
Elon Dance Company moves with natural rhythm of campus
Kristel Tedesco
Reporter
A buzzing crowd gathered outside
Koury Business Center Sept. 30 as dancers gracefully stepped into their places,
framed by the sunlit fountain.
“Dance in the Landscape,” Elon
Dance Company’s first performance of
the season, explored the juxtaposition of
natural elements and the crafted architecture of Elon’s campus. Featuring group
improvisation and three choreographed
works, the concert showcased the talent
and versatility of the dance majors.
“You don’t have all the conditions
you’re used to, like the perfect temperature and floor,” said freshman dance major Kayla McGrath. “It’s definitely something you have to adjust to.”
Throughout the rehearsal process,
dancers faced many challenges, including
thick Carolina mud, uneven ground and
unforgiving brick.
“It’s a much more intense process,”
McGrath said. “It’s pushed me to work
harder, which I love.”
Although last year’s performance
took place in the Academic Village, the
move to Koury Business Center created
intricacies and challenges that propelled
the artistry of the choreography to new
heights, according to Jason Aryeh, concert director and assistant professor of
performing arts. Dancers repelled oﬀ the
columns, ran through the pathways, dove

into the soft grass and flew through the
air, exploring all the elements of the space.
“One thing that drew me to the space
around Koury Business Center were the
huge pillars and the space in between to
use as part of the choreography,” Aryeh
said. “I loved the idea of the fountain as
a background.”
This was Aryeh’s second year as director of the site-specific concert. His African heritage and dance training blended
with contemporary dance motifs in the
choreography.
“For landscape, it’s real natural to
come up with moments because I’ve been
dancing outside all my life,” Aryeh said.
“Landscape is home for me.”
Aryeh took on a new challenge this
year by collaborating with Clay Stevenson, lecturer of music, to create an original
electronic score featuring dubstep beats.
The music inspired diﬀerent movement
qualities in the group work and sparked
excitement among younger audience
members.
But upperclassmen have seen the
annual fall concerts progress and evolve
throughout their years at Elon.
“It’s more cohesive,” said Kelsey
Herbst, senior dance major and assistant
director. “What I like about it is that it
uses diﬀerent visual perspectives on the
same space.“
Another innovation in this year’s concert was the inclusion of student choreography. A trio of dancers gave a mature,

Men
• The jean: Every guy needs a solid
pair of jeans in his closet. This year, it’s
all about the classic look of light Levis.
Don’t be afraid of a lighter shade for this
season to add texture and contrast to
your look. The big change this fall is to
single-cuﬀ the bottoms as well.
• Statement piece: Add an uncanny
flair to your look with a flash of color or
a statement piece. Pair a neutral colored
sweater or button-down with colored
pants or a funky tie or pair of shoes. You
will draw attention to your outfit while
also expressing your creativity.
• Light colored pants: Much like
light jeans, light colored pants are also a
fall staple. Colors like caramel, camel and

mustard will act as a simple base for the
outfit. Less is more this season. It’s not
about flash, but functional simplicity.
• Oversized jackets: Everybody
needs a good fall jacket. Ditch the go-to
sweatshirt or zip-up and grab an oversized jacket. When going for a wool or
cotton peacoat, double or single-breasted
styles are great. Stick to neutral colors
like black or navy, or go for a subtle pattern that makes a big statement. A little
pattern can go a long way.
• Scarves: Guys, accessories are not
just for girls. This season, go for a bold
scarf that really gives your wardrobe a
boost. A neutral or dark color will bring
attention to your face. Coﬀee brown,
tans, deep teals and burgundy will be the
main palette for this fall in menswear,
while red, burnt orange and raspberry
will be for those who want more personality in their style.

Women
• Black and blue: Black and blue
are the “it” color combination for this
fall season. Don’t leave your wardrobe
bare. Pair this color combo in a layered
look, dress, color block or break up an
all-black look with dark blue tones. Be
sure not to forget the navy peacoat. The
former trend is making a big comeback
this year.
• Burgundy/wine: Dark red and
purple shades are another color-combo
staple. Be sure to pick the colors that
suit your skin tone best. Whether it is
in an oversized sweater, dress or even
tights, these colors are the season’s new
black.
• Think big: Large, chunky sweaters
and scarves will add texture to your
outfit. This fall, they will not only keep
you warm but will also bring eﬀortless

style. Add necklaces, bracelets or earrings to make the oversized look more
feminine. If long enough, pair sweaters
with leggings and boots.
• Military: Military-inspired looks
are a fall fashion must-have. Sport a
modern military style with a sage green
jacket, brown leather boots or a canvas
satchel. Use accent pieces with metal
and leather for a subtle hint of army
flair. High collars also give military
edge, and gold buttons on a peacoat or
jacket can do the same.
• Make it pop: Contrast the dark
neutral tones of fall, and throw in a pop
of color. Even though it’s not spring,
don’t be afraid of bright colors. When
wearing all black, pop it with a bright
shoe, jacket or lipstick. Diﬀerent tones
and textures can also boost the outfit,
like wearing shiny black tights to make
the look more chic.

Frank Hurd is a name that
has been known on campus for
several years. He was part of the
campus-based band Phoenix
Highway, which released its
extended play, or EP, “American
Blend” last year. On Sept. 12, he
released his debut solo project,
an EP titled “Pressed for Time.”
It peaked at No. 11 on the
iTunes singer/songwriter chart,
alongside notable names like
James Taylor, Simon & Garfunkel and The Civil Wars.
Hurd’s music fits right in
with that category.
The EP begins with “Time
Flies Like an Arrow,” starting a
theme that runs throughout the
seven-track disc. The opening lines ask, “Have you ever
thought about where all the
time has gone and wonder why
it keeps on moving and it won’t
stop no matter what we try?”
The track is about the fragility of time and how it seems to
escape most people.
Another common theme of
the EP is love and how time
can sometimes interfere with
it. “Something About You”
discusses falling in love and
looking back to see how the romance blossomed. In “The Seasons Still Change,” Hurd sings
about how passion remains
through the seasons: “Just tell
me you still feel the same, and
the seasons still change.”
Hurd’s voice fits the homegrown folk genre well. The
songwriting is not outstanding,
but his clever and nostalgic
look at love forces the listener
to think about loves they have
lost and sing right along with
Hurd.
One thing is guaranteed: If
you listen through this album
twice, you will quickly get the
songs stuck in your head. The
catchy choruses and soothing
instrumentations are worth
your money.

Arts & Entertainment
Wednesday, October 3, 2012 • page 20

STEPHANIE BUTZER | Senior Reporter

(Left to right) Senior Lauren Bambino, freshman Gerald Caesar, sophomore Zane Phillips and sophomore Benedetto Robinson rehearse a scene from “Story of Home.” The play will open Oct. 5 in the Black Box Theatre.

Final lines come together for ‘Story of Home’ premiere
Stephanie Butzer
Senior Reporter

I

f at first you don’t succeed, try, try
again.
If at first it does not sound right,
revise, revise, revise. Then, when it is perfect,
the show can go on.
Logan Sutton, senior BFA acting major
and Lumen scholar, is the playwright of
“Story of Home,” and after several revisions,
adjustments and minor tweaks, his play is
ready to welcome an audience into the Black
Box Theatre.
The process of revising “Story of Home”
— an original play that explores Odysseus’
family’s struggle in his absence during the

Trojan War — has not been an easy one.
Sutton has been exploring the topic and its
modern connection since fall break of his
freshman year.
The play explores the idea of waiting, a
very different kind of struggle than is present
in most productions, but one that has a
familiar ring to it in the modern age.
Sutton’s “Story of Home” focuses on
the characters that Homer, author of “The
Odyssey,” does not touch on in his Greek
epic. In Homer’s work, what happens at home
is left mostly up to the reader’s interpretation.
Finding and tweaking characters
Sutton wanted to explore not only the

19-year wait for Odysseus to return to Ithaca,
but also what happened during those years.
His son, Telemachus, played by sophomore
Sam Jones, and wife, Penelope, played by
senior Lauren Bambino, grow during this
period. Telemachus, who was a newborn
when his father left for war, had to be able to
embrace playing several ages.
“We needed an actor who could go through
all those different perspectives truthfully,”
Sutton said. “That’s what we were looking for
the most with Telemachus.”
In the original drafts, there were two
people playing the part: a young Telemachus
and an older version of the boy.
As the drafts progressed, it became clear it
would be best to cast the same actor in both

parts. Sutton said Jones fit this description
because he was able to play the character’s
full range in a believable way. Telemachus
and Penelope provide two different ways for
the audience to interpret the conflict. Sutton
hoped this would help tell two different
stories. They both have inner conflict, and
this containment builds to create scenes of
uncomfortable tension.
As the older, more mature character,
Penelope is fully aware of the circumstances
and their potential effects on Ithaca. Audience
members then see Telemachus, a young boy
who struggles to grow into a man without a
father figure to look up to.
“Telemachus doesn’t have a father figure
in his life because he’s waiting his entire life

Arts & Entertainment
Wednesday, October 3, 2012 • page 21

for his dad,” said sophomore Corbin Mayer,
who plays Eurymachus. “He’s wondering,
‘Who should I be? How should I act?’ and
taking all this advice from people who are not
his dad.”
Sutton wanted to explore Telemachus’
and Penelope’s struggles simultaneously as
dual protagonists. It creates a stark contrast
between the world of an adult and that of a
child, he said.
Both characters, as well as several others
outside Odysseus’ family, go through stages of
hope and hopelessness. Each character handles
the situation differently, which helps develop
their personality.
“It’s really interesting to watch Penelope go
through that because she has different stages
throughout it,” said senior Emily Tryon, who
plays Anticlea. “That’s really applicable to
today. When things get rough, how do you
handle it?”
An expert’s helping hand
Sutton has not been alone through the
creative process. Director Kevin Otos,
associate professor of theater, has many
years under his belt and has been working
with Sutton since he first started the
project. After the initial read-throughs and
callbacks were complete, Sutton and Otos
spent four hours looking over the script and
editing it together.
“Some playwrights take offense to
that, and understandably so,” Sutton said.
“Everybody has a different process. For me,
I don’t mind at all, especially someone I
trust as much as Kevin and who I trust has
a similar vision for the play.”
Whether Sutton decided to actually
change the script was completely up to him.
Otos said he respects Sutton’s work but
has continuously pushed him to make the
production even better. As heartwarming
as it is to hear positive feedback, Sutton
thinks it’s better to receive Otos’ critical
comments so he knows what he needs to
change to enhance the play.
“Kevin has been really good with pointing
out points when Penelope seems passiveaggressive, which is a human tactic,” Sutton
said. “It’s a way of dealing with situations.
For the character of Penelope, it became
particularly important that the audience,
because she’s the protagonist, is able to
empathize with her.”

usually sense when it’s not a memorization
thing and it’s not a justification thing,”
Sutton said. “It’s just that there’s something
not right about this part in the script.”
The script has been finalized, but
the actors are still getting rewrites when
it is appropriate. Sutton described the
importance of being able to sense the
comfort level of a cast member when he or
she gets a rewrite.
He often got this response from
Bambino. They reworked many of her lines
to bring out the qualities he wanted to
emphasize in Penelope. Sutton can see she
is more committed to the lines now.
“Sometimes the way they memorize it,
omitting a word or two, will read better
than the line I wrote or provide better
quality because their mind will take what’s
essential and leave out the rest,” Sutton
said.
During rehearsals, Sutton and Otos
scribbled notes for themselves and the
actors in order to look at a specific moment
and clarify their objective. Now that
opening night is approaching Oct. 5, these
comments have diminished into questions
and very minor changes.
The actors and actresses take these
notes to heart and said they look up to

Sutton. Junior Caroline Klidonas, who
plays Melantho, said she will apply all she’s
learned from this experience to her studies
next year.
“I’m an Honors Fellow and for my senior
thesis, I’ll have to do something similar,”
Klidonas said. “I think it’s great to be a part
of that process and just see someone write
an original work and see it put on its feet.”
Standing behind the spotlight
Sutton wrote the play by himself. He
created the characters, interactions and
dialogue in the way he thought best. Now,
dozens of eyes have scrutinized and edited his
work. It has changed from its original state,
but Sutton said he likes the progress.
“Once the designers were able to get
involved and I got their input and their
original vision as they interpreted the show, it
started to evolve in a way that’s neither better
nor worse,” Sutton said. “But I like it just as
well as what I wrote.”
The play has stayed true to the original
feelings and ideas Sutton wanted to
communicate. It has not been altered past
recognition. He does not feel betrayed by all
the different twists and turns the play took
during edits.

Many minds came together to create the
final project. Sutton has slowly faded out of
the production, although not entirely. It is
his role, as a playwright, to understand that if
the play is published, he won’t be able to be
in every room when people are rehearsing it.
“I need to make sure that what’s on paper
matches what is achievable and what is
artistically inspiring,” Sutton said.
The play has helped him understand
acting much better overall. It has shown
him how much work happens both on and
off the stage between the cast and crew.
Sutton said he used to take breathers in
between lines when he played major roles.
Now that he has experience as a playwright,
he knows breathers are not helpful. He has
recognized how to avoid cliche pitfalls into
which many actors can get trapped, and
it has become an experience he will never
forget.
“I feel, honestly, like I’ve been a little bit
spoiled in terms of how good this process is
going with what everyone — the actors, the
director, the designers — have brought to
the process,” Sutton said. “It’s helped the
show become so much more substantial and
impactful when it finally gets an audience.
I think it will be just what I wrote on the
page.”§

Constant collaboration
Even with two people plus the script
designers analyzing the lines in “Story of
Home,” the actors and actresses are the
people who make a lot of the calls.
“When they’re struggling unnecessarily
with a set of lines, it’s my job as the
playwright to look at those, and I can

A look at the recent history of
the Elon University baseball team
shows some national and conference success. From 2008 to 2010,
the Phoenix made three consecutive
trips to the NCAA Tournament. It
captured the 2011 Southern Conference regular season title. But last
season was a “down year” for the
Phoenix, which did not qualify for
postseason play despite finishing
just one game out of first place in
the SoCon
“If that’s a disappointment, we’ll
be okay with that,” said head baseball coach Mike Kennedy. We want
to get back to (NCAA Tournament)
regional play, there’s no doubt about
that.”
The Phoenix is striving to return
to top form through a rigorous oﬀseason conditioning program, which
senior outfielder Niko Fraser called
“among the best in the country.”

FILE PHOTO BY AL DRAGO

Assistant baseball coach Rob Huﬀstetler pitches to a player during bunting practice in preparation of the team’s upcoming season.

Kennedy stressed the importance
of the oﬀseason program.
“You’re getting yourself in playing shape,” he said. “A lot of these

kids play in the summer, but not
getting the necessary running on
a day-in, day-out basis, the overall conditioning of the body that it
takes to play at this level.”
Practice is daily, as well as
weightlifting workouts and other
team-bonding exercises such as
meals together.
Fraser said his least favorite series of exercises is “full-out Friday”,
which is more endurance-based
than other days. His favorite day to
condition is Wednesday.
“Wednesdays are agility days,
getting oﬀ the block,” he said. “It’s
very fitting for the kind of game that
I play.”
For Fraser, this offseason program has special importance, as
he is attempting to rebound from
a season-ending concussion that
forced him to miss about half of his
junior season.
“I think having a conditioning
program is essential to having a
good program,” he said. “The season’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
Fraser said that although his injury wasn’t muscular, he still values
the conditioning.
“It definitely gets your confidence back up, gets your stamina up
and I’m a firm believer that if you’re
in shape, your brain’s gonna work
well too,” he said.
Kennedy said he is especially

looking forward to his return.
“For Niko, he’s excited to be back
out here,” he said. “He’s probably the
hardest worker I’ve ever coached, in
every phase of the game. He doesn’t
have diﬀerent gears; he goes one
speed all the time. He’s excited, he’s
working extremely hard.”

at the end of practice. It’s a new experience. Hopefully we can make it
far and do our best.”
If Kennedy has his way, the 2013
Elon Phoenix baseball team will go
far and do its best, and the strength
and conditioning will go a long way
toward reaching that goal. He said

We could have all the skill in the world,
but if we’re not in good shape, we’re not
going to win baseball games.
-Mike Kennedy, head baseball coach

On the other end of the spectrum, a new crop of freshmen is
getting its first exposure to college
baseball through the workouts. One
of these freshmen, Tyler Manez, a
pitcher from North Massapequa,
N.Y. and 32nd round pick of the
Houston Astros this year, is adjusting to the changes Division I baseball brings after turning down an
opportunity to play professionally.
“We’re out here every day, lifting
weights, conditioning, long tossing,”
Manez said. “High school wasn’t
like that. It’s hard. We’re always being tested. Just a ridiculous workout.
In high school, we just ran the bases

the conditioning is especially important in April and May, the later
parts of the season.
“Everything we do centers
around getting into the NCAA
tournament and playing, so all these
things factor in,” he said. “We could
have all the skill in the world, but if
we’re not in good shape, we’re not
going to win ballgames. Our goal
during this oﬀseason is to really get
them strong so their bodies can really withstand the long season — if
you can do it, then I think you’re
gonna see the level of play maintained at a higher level, therefore,
you’re gonna win more games.”

Sports

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 • page 23

Junior midﬁelder kicking strong for Phoenix

Andrew Wilson
Assistant Sports Editor

been a vital part of the Phoenix’s
success on the field.

or a girl who says she’s “really bad” at interviews, you
would think some experience would come with the amount of
talent she brings to the soccer field
every day for the Elon University
women’s soccer team.
Kimmie Krauss is a junior midfielder on the women’s soccer team.
Throughout her career at Elon, she
has played in all 54 games the team
has played since 2010. Of those, she’s
started all but three.
When asked if she had any regrets about coming to Elon, her answer was simple.
“No, none,” she said. “But could
you imagine if I did? That would be
terrible.”

Change on the pitch

F

Making a decision
Turn back the clocks a couple of
years to Krauss’ sophomore year at
Washington Township High School
in southern New Jersey, just 30 minutes from Philadelphia. Krauss was
playing for her club team, FC Delco,
based in Pennsylvania, when her
team came to Winston-Salem for a
showcase tournament. That’s when
she thought Elon head coach Chris
Neal first noticed her.
She was right.
“We first saw her in WinstonSalem,” Neal said. “Then we saw her
out in Las Vegas and again down in
Disney.”
Being a sophomore, Krauss was
still young, but Neal knew he needed
to keep an eye on her.
By the end of the first semester of
her junior year in high school, Neal
said that’s when he knew he wanted
her at Elon.
“We knew,” Neal said. “No question about it, we knew.”
According to Krauss, there were
three schools in contention: Elon, St.
Joseph’s and St. John’s.
So what helped her decide to
come to Elon?
“I really wanted a new experience,” Krauss said. “I wanted something diﬀerent, so I picked Elon. I
came here on my visits, loved it, and
that was it.”
Now, as a junior at Elon, she’s

Krauss is naturally a right-footed
left back. For anyone who knows
soccer, the left back usually stays
on defense and doesn’t go forward
much. It’s a diﬀerent story for
Krauss, though.
When she came to Elon, Neal
moved her to the left midfield position, which aided her habits of moving forward with the pace of play.
But just eight games into her freshman season, Neal realized it was time
for a change and moved her back to
her natural position of left back.
“During the away Samford game,
he put me at left back, and I pretty
much stuck there, which I like,”
Krauss said. “I like stepping up and
reading the play because I can tell
when the other team is going to
pass the ball, but I still like getting
forward though. I love being aggressive.”
Krauss goes forward so much
that it’s something the Phoenix use
to their advantage. According to
Neal, it’s also a big reason why Elon
recruited her.
“She’s the type of player that, on
the attacking side of things, doesn’t
need to be told when to go forward,”
Neal said. “She just naturally gets
it. She’s an absolute integral part of
our attack. I’m sure other teams are
watching video and trying to figure
out ways to deal with her, but she’s
not easy.”
Through the rest of the season
and into next year, Neal said he
might experiment with her position
a little bit to keep her fresh, among
other reasons.
“Sometimes at that left back position, she spends so much energy
going forward that she makes the
defending side of things tough,”
Neal said. “We’ve experimented, and
we still may down the road. It’s just
that a lot of forwards just don’t like
to defend, and she takes full advantage of that by going forward.”
Improvements abound
Through her two-plus years donning the maroon and gold, Krauss

FILE PHOTO BY AL DRAGO

Elon junior midﬁelder Kimmie Krauss (10) has only ﬁve career goals, but her impact on
the pitch for the women’s soccer team is hard to miss, according to coach Chris Neal.

knows she’s improved, but between
her and her coach, they both said
she’s improved in more ways than
one.
“I feel like my biggest improvement is my communication skills
both on the field and oﬀ the field
with my team,” Krauss said. “When
I first came here, I kind of stuck with
my class. I didn’t really get out there
and talk to everyone within the team.
Now, I’ve become closer with the
whole team.”
Neal said it’s her character on the
field.
“Kimmie’s matured as a person so
much,” Neal said. “Her understanding is so much better. Her freshman
year, it was just caution to the wind.
Now, she’s learned how to take care
of the ball better, and with that maturity, she’s making better decisions.”

In addition to maturity, Neal said
she’s also improved her abilities with
her left foot.
“She’s not a true lefty, but her left
footed serve has gotten very, very
good,” Neal said. “So much so that
now, opponents will overcompensate
to try and block that left foot. She’ll
just chop it back to her right foot
and get it into the dangerous area.”
Being an aggressive defender
consistently moving up and down
the field, Krauss runs a lot. Her
teammates notice how much she
runs, but it’s something Krauss
said just naturally happens and she
“doesn’t even realize it.”
“Everyone tells me that I run a
lot on the field,” Krauss said. “I don’t
even think about it. I don’t even know
how I do it. It just happens. It’s fun
getting forward even though I know I

have
to get back.”
Neal said he feels the same way,
but knows it’s something she’s going to have to control so she doesn’t
“break down” at some point during the home stretch of the season,
hence the potential position experiments.
“With all of the runs she makes
out of the back and getting back, if I
had to estimate, she’s probably putting in between six and seven miles a
game,” Neal said. “She runs a whole
lot. She might as well have a big ‘S’
on her chest because of it.”§

Sports

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 • page 24

Schedule, strength important for elevation of men’s basketball program

The Elon University men’s basketball team is getting informal preseason workouts underway to prepare for their season opener Nov. 10 against Butler University in Indianapolis, Ind.

Zachary Horner
Sports Editor

L

ast season, the Elon University men’s basketball
team had shirts made that
read “Elevate Elon.” The idea was to
remind the players that the Elon program needs to be on the rise in college basketball circles.
A tough schedule loomed, including games against the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill and
San Diego State University, and the
Phoenix ended the season with a 1516 record, one shy of a .500 record.
This year, the schedule is near the
same level of diﬃculty.
They’re going to play Duke University. And the University of South
Carolina.
Mix in a two-time national championship runner-up from the last
three years and the always diﬃcult
Southern Conference schedule, and

Elon will have quite a year to walk
through.
“This may or may not be the
strongest beginning-of-the-season
schedule that I’ve had since I’ve been
here,” said senior guard Josh Bonney.
“We’ve got some really good teams
that are really going to come and
play. That will give us a good gauge
of where we’re at as a team and where
we need to be by the time the Southern Conference tournament starts.”
The season opens Nov. 10 in Indianapolis against Butler University.
The opener is a homecoming of sorts
for junior guard Jack Isenbarger, who
is from nearby Zionsville, Ind., 30
minutes from Hinkle Fieldhouse,
Butler’s home court. The Bulldogs
were national championship runnersup in 2010 and 2011.
“We’re going to treat it just like
any other game, but at the same time,
there’s the external factors,” Isenbarger said. “Playing back home, near

home, playing at a gym that I grew up
going to basketball camps and playing in tournaments and playing AAU
(Amatuer Athletic Union) games
there, that’s going to be a ton of fun.
I’m really excited that our guys get
to go and see what Indiana basketball looks like as far as the history of
Hinkle Fieldhouse goes.”
There could not be many better starts for freshman guard Tanner
Samson.
“That’s definitely an exciting feeling,” he said. “It will be a good challenge for us as a team. Playing at Butler, they have a lot of history there, so
that will be a fun game. We’re looking
forward to it.”
The game against Butler is part
of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.
The Phoenix will host the Mainland
Games, a portion of the tournament
that’s not in Hawaii, Nov. 17-18.
Other teams involved are Colgate
University, Florida Atlantic Univer-

sity and Coppin State University.
“I think it’s a big step for our
program to be able to host the Maui
Invitational,” Isenbarger said. “It’s a
nationally recognized tournament
and it’s going to put Elon on the map
a little bit. That being said, we’ve still
got to step up and perform.”
The Phoenix will also take on several Ivy League teams during the season, as well as Virginia Military Institute Nov. 24 and Div. III opponent
Bridgewater College Nov. 13.
But perhaps the most intriguing
match-ups are the rematches with
South Carolina and Duke.
Last season, the Phoenix defeated
South Carolina 58-53 Nov. 15, Elon’s
first win over a Football Championship Subdivision conference opponent. The victory was featured as the
No. 10 play on ESPN SportsCenter’s
Top 10 the next day. But South Carolina brings a new coach into the mix,
former Kansas State University head

MERISSA BLITZ | Staﬀ Photographer

coach Frank Martin, who is 117-54
as a head coach.
“They’ll have our number, that’s
for sure,” Isenbarger said. “With the
new coach, I think he’ll have them
fired up and ready to go. We’re going
to go out there and fight just like we
did last year and see what happens.”
The Phoenix will take on Duke
Dec. 20 at Cameron Indoor Stadium
in Durham, a place where Elon lost
98-72 to the then-No. 1 Blue Devils
in 2010. Bonney was in the middle of
a medical redshirt season, so he was
not able to participate in that game.
Needless to say, he’ll be fired up
for this one.
“With the whole aura that Duke
has, as a basketball player, it’s the
mecca of college basketball, UNC,
Duke places like that,” he said. “You
try not to be in awe, but there’s always
that kind of dynamic in those situations. I’m just going to embrace the
opportunity to play against one of the

Sports

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 • page 24

best teams in the country, play as hard
as I can and hopefully things will
work out for us.”
The SoCon schedule begins with
a Nov. 28 matchup against Georgia
Southern University in Statesboro,
Ga., followed by College of Charleston visiting Alumni Gym Dec. 1.
Elon head coach Matt Matheny
sees the conference as growing in intensity and competition.
“What I’ve seen in the Southern
Conference the last four or five years
is that the conference is getting better and better,” he said. “And a lot of
it stems from the success in ’08 that
Davidson (College, a fellow SoCon
team) made with the Elite Eight run.
I think programs have elevated as a
result of that run in ’08. It will be really balanced.”
The fight for the SoCon crown
will begin Oct. 12, when the first
practice takes place for the Phoenix.
The players have been focused on
conditioning and workouts to get
prepped for the season.
“As a team overall, we’ve had
a good fall,” Matheny said. “Evan
Brown, our strength coach, who’s new
here to Elon, has done a tremendous
job pushing our guys. Our guys are
gaining good strength and weight.”
Elon is recovering from several
injuries to players such as Isenbarger,
sophomore guards Austin Hamilton
and Kevin Blake and sophomore forward Ryan Winters. Along with the
rehabilitation, there has been a large
focus on conditioning, prompting
Bonney to say it “sucks.” But there
have been positives from that.

“As far as the team, we’re really
cohesive, everybody’s together, everybody’s really working hard,” Bonney
said. “I feel like you all will definitely
see that pay oﬀ for us later on.”
Something Matheny wanted to
see improved was the size of his players. Several of them have picked up
what the head coach called “good
weight,” pointing out junior forward
Lucas Troutman and junior guard
Sebastian Koch.
Isenbarger is finishing up rehabilitation on a dislocated shoulder he
injured in the first game of the 20112012 season against the University of
Massachusetts at Amherst. He spoke
to the importance of building up
weight and how it leads to strength
and stamina.
“If we can keep building on that
and have that stamina last through
the season, it can give us an advantage on a lot of teams,” he said. “The
stronger you are, the quicker you are,
and the better you’re going to be able
to perform. Performance is increased
and the endurance at that ability lasts
longer.”
With the beginning of practice
just two weeks away, the Elon men’s
basketball team is confident in how
much more improved this team is
compared to last year’s.
“I think we’re making leaps and
bounds in our weightlifting,” Isenbarger said. “Guys are getting stronger. Our conditioning coach is pushing us and we’re definitely seeing
improvements from over time. We’ll
be ready to go when the first practice
comes Oct. 13.”§

MERISSA BLITZ | Staﬀ Photographer

Senior forward Roger Dugas, going in for a layup, is one of four seniors on this year’s Elon men’s basketball team.

The Phoenix, looking to improve on last season’s 15-16 record, has spent a lot of time this oﬀseason looking to improve its conditioning, strength and stamina. Oﬃcial practice begins Oct. 13.

MERISSA BLITZ | Staﬀ Photographer

Sports

Breaking Point

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 • page 26

Elon-App State football showdown this Saturday crucial in more ways than one

Zachary Horner
Sports Editor

E

ven at the end
of this past Saturday’s 49-24
loss to Woﬀord College,
a game when they were
“outplayed” in every aspect according to head
coach Jason Swepson, the
Elon University football
team was already thinking
ahead to this Saturday’s
showdown with Appalachian State University.
“Losing today, obvi-

ously nobody’s happy
with it,” Elon junior defensive lineman Tony
Thompson said Saturday.
“Coming out this week,
we know we can play App
State close. We have every year.”
Sixteen games have
been played between the
teams in the 48 years
since Elon last defeated
the Appalachian State
Mountaineers.

Not only is that hanging over this year’s Phoenix football team, but last
year’s tough loss at the
end of the season still
burns in the players’ guts.
Not to mention players
argue Elon desperately
needs a win if they have
any chance of making the
playoffs this season.
Needless to say, this
game has a lot riding on
it.

FILE PHOTO COREY GROOM

Sports

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 • page 27

History not in their favor
A look at history provides a bit
of insight into the Elon-Appalachian State rivalry.
The Phoenix’s showing is, kindly put, below par. Elon sits 9-30-0
all-time in the series, beginning
with a 31-0 loss Oct. 23, 1937. It
was the only loss Elon suffered
in then-head coach Horace Hendrickson’s first season at the helm
as the Phoenix went 7-1 that year.
Before both teams were in the
Southern Conference, Appalachian
State held a 21-9 edge. The teams
played their first SoCon game
Nov. 8, 2003. Three fights needed
to be broken up by referees that
game, despite the teams not having
played since a 14-10 Mountaineers
win Nov. 20, 1971, in Burlington at
Williams High School.
The last time Elon defeated the
black and gold in football was Oct.
3, 1964, a 28-7 Phoenix victory
in Boone, N.C., at Kidd Brewer
Stadium, affectionately known as
“The Rock.”
The Phoenix lost an opportunity at a SoCon championship in
2009 when the Mountaineers beat
Elon 27-10 Nov. 14 in Rhodes Sta-

dium in the second-to-last game of
the season, ending an 8-1 run up to
that point.
Adam Smith, the Elon football
beat writer for The Times-News
in Burlington, has been to several
Elon-Appalachian State matchups, including that 2009 game The
Times-News dubbed the “SoCon
Super Bowl.”
“Elon had to watch them celebrate,” Smith said. “It was a true,
championship-type
celebration.
That was a very deflating moment
because (Elon) had played so well
that year. They dominated a lot of
people. If you were an Elon person,
you thought, ‘This is the year we
can get (App State).’”
There’s a feeling around the
Elon locker room any time Appalachian State is mentioned. Sophomore linebacker Odell Benton said
the Mountaineers are the team,
even as he was being recruited,
“We don’t like.”
“I had upperclassmen (telling
me), (now-graduated linebacker)
Josh Jones last year, he really put
that into me, like, ‘Hey, this is App
State week, we’re going to get that
win, that’s what we really want,’”
he said following the Wofford loss.

Last year lingers
Elon was 5-5,
coming off a huge
win over then-No.
19 Furman University to pull the
Phoenix to a .500
record in Swepson’s
first season.
Was it the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on
then-junior
wide
receiver
Jeremy
Peterson? Did the
three-score
lead
they let slip away
take a mental toll?
Or did they just not
have enough left,
that being the last
game of the 2011
season?
The answer to
why the Phoenix lost a 28-24
heartbreaker to the
Mountaineers
on
Nov. 19 last year
could be a number of things. But
it ended up being

another stumble in the string of
losses.
Elon ended the first quarter
flying high. The Phoenix got two
passing touchdowns from thenjunior quarterback Thomas Wilson and a rushing touchdown from
then-senior Dontay Taylor.
“We came ready to play football,” Swepson said a few days after
the loss. “With that 21-point lead,
I think it gave us a belief that we
could play at a high level.”
But he added, “I think we
scored too early.”
Elon would only tack on a
field goal from then-junior Adam
Shreiner and watched the Mountaineers get four touchdown passes
from then-sophomore quarterback
Jamal Jackson.
In the third quarter, Elon had
just seven yards of offense and allowed a touchdown. It was a key
component in the loss.
“We lost composure,” Swepson
said. “We had two major penalties, both unsportsmanlike conduct
(one was actually a 15-yard kick
catch interference penalty). You
have to give credit to App State.
Even when they were down 21
points, they didn’t flinch.”
The proverbial straw that broke
the camel’s back was the unsportsmanlike penalty call on Peterson.
Elon got the ball at their own

29-yard line with 11:07 remaining
in the fourth quarter right after the
Mountaineers had scored to go up
28-24. Wilson completed three of
four passes for 37 yards to bring
the Phoenix to the Appalachian
State 34-yard line.
On third and five, Wilson
hit Peterson with a pass over the
middle for a 17-yard gain that
put the Phoenix in the red zone.
In celebration, Peterson flexed his
muscles with his arms curled beside his body. A yellow flag flew,
kicking Elon back to the Appalachian State 32. A sack, a five-yard
completion and an incomplete pass
later, the Phoenix punted.
The Elon defense came out and
made a crucial stop, forcing a punt
that placed the Phoenix at its own
14 with 2:38 left in the game.
Wilson drove the Phoenix back
down the field to the Appalachian
State 13 with 1:30 left. On fourth
and five, the quarterback attempted to hit Peterson, but Mountaineers linebacker Jeremy Kimbrough
jumped and tipped the pass away
from any Elon receiver.
Game over.
“Always. In the back of our
mind, always,” Thompson said
when asked if that loss lingers.
“We went up early. We were excited about it and then they chipped
away. It lingers in everyone’s mind

Sports

2011

0
1
0
2

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 • page 28

FILE PHOTO BY COREY GROOM

Elon then-senior quarterback Scott Riddle threw for 394 yards and four touchdowns, three to then-sophomore wide receiver Aaron Mellette, but the Phoenix fell to the Mountaineers 34-31 Oct. 10, 2010, in Boone.

constantly. We’re ready to come
out and prove to them that we’re
better than them and we’re going to
beat them this weekend.”
A lot at stake
“The Rock” looms on the Oct. 6
box on the Elon football team’s calendar for more than one reason.
First, Appalachian State is having their Homecoming celebration.
Elon last played in Kidd Brewer
Stadium during the same occasion
Oct. 9, 2010, when 31,531 fans set a
school record for football attendance

to see the then-No. 1 Mountaineers
narrowly defeat the Phoenix 34-31.
“(Appalachian State) is the standard that everyone is striving for, to
have game days that look like that,”
Smith said. “It’s a legitimate football
atmosphere game-day. That’s what
it is. They do it right up there. For
that scale, it can hold its own with
everybody.”
Swepson has never been there.
“I think that’s going to energize
us, going to play in front of a big
crowd,” Swepson said. “Keep the
crowd out of it by scoring and stopping them and it will be a fun day

FILE PHOTO BY AL DRAGO

Then-junior wide receiver Jeremy Peterson was whistled for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after
this catch as part of Elon’s 28-24 loss to Appalachian State in Rhodes Stadium last Nov. 19.

for us.”
Second, the Phoenix is not where
it would like to be right now. Elon
sits at 2-3 overall, 0-2 in the SoCon,
good for second-to-last.
“It’s not there yet, but if we take
another loss in the conference, it
might be there,” Mellette said when
asked if the team was in a “backagainst-the-wall” situation. “We’ve
just got to go in there and win and
stay positive and do what we do.”
Last Saturday, Thompson talked
about the necessity of a win, and
how crucial it would be to beat the
Mountaineers in Kidd Brewer Sta-

dium.
“It would be massive,” he said.
“Coming oﬀ two conference losses,
we need a conference win. Especially in their stadium, it’s going to be
great. Coming into a bye week after
that, getting ready for the rest of the
conference, it would be huge.”
Benton said the heartbreaking
conclusion to last year has been a
motivation for this season, as well as
something that still hurts.
“We still haven’t forgotten that
loss in the last game of the season
last year,” he said. “That was one of
our big motivations for the oﬀsea-

son, how we let that game slip right
through our fingers. This weekend
is huge for us. We’re going to come
in confident and we’re going to execute.”
Swepson sees the necessity of
getting a win, and getting the black
and gold monkey oﬀ Elon’s back.
“Obviously, we’d love to go into
the bye week 3-3 instead of 2-4,”
he said. “We’ve got our demons
against App State, so we’re going to
go face them, look them right in the
eye. We’re going to go out and play
physical football on Saturday, I can
guarantee you that.”§

the

Extras

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 • page 29

LastWord:

Chris changes his mind...again

If I’ve learned one thing in life, it’s
that there’s always time to change
your mind. Sure, choices in life may
seem permanent and
people often
go on and on
about how
much weight
your decisions carry.
But in the
big scheme
of things,
Christopher Bosak
Producer, The Swing sometimes
changing your
mind about a
decision is what you need to do.
Take me, for example. No one
has changed their mind more than
I have. I’ve flip-flopped more than

a good pair of sandals, waﬄed more
then an International House of
Pancakes. If you could major in
minoring, I’d have a PhD by now.
I’ve always been a communications major, but at diﬀerent points
I’ve been a minor in psychology,
computer science, music technology
— I’m still registered as a political
science minor, despite veering oﬀ
that path two years ago. I’ve taken
so many 100-level courses that there
is probably one person from each
graduating class who still thinks I’m
a freshman.
People see changing your mind as
a bad thing. And, true, “indecisive”
is certainly not a word you would
put on your resume. But changing
your mind in the flexible environment college oﬀers is one of the

#WordSearch

best things you can do. How are
you supposed to know what you’re
missing if you don’t give everything
a try?
As a senior, I don’t see the hours
spent in those entry-level classes as
a waste. Some of my best friends
are people I never would have met,
people I never would have considered meeting, had I never taken
those classes. I see those classes as
brief glimpses inside the diﬀerent
jobs I could pursue, diﬀerent directions I could take in my life. For
me, taking those classes fulfilled the
true definition of that amorphous
pursuit: gaining a liberal arts education.
Well, maybe I just see them as
good practice for my “Jeopardy!”
audition.

real-world to slightly-closer-tothe-real-world-but-definitely-waytoo-awesome-to-be-the-real-world.
(Unlike Elon, the real world is not
a botanical garden in disguise.)
For seniors, I hope I can tell you
something that distracts you from
the fact that in a few months, everything in your life is going to change
and you must now become the
adult you’ve been pretending to be.
(Clearly, I’m not starting out well on
that goal.)
I’m here for you. Send questions,
advice requests, funny internet
jokes, anything that might make a
good column to thelastwordelon@
gmail.com I’m here to entertain and
enlighten.
Unless, of course, I change my
mind.

Top Tweets

How many of these @ElonHandles do you follow on Twitter?

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f
f
o
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a
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p

But either way, with only a few
months left at Elon, I’m changing
my mind one more time. After
spending a year and a half as the guy
in The Pendulum who never writes,
I’m starting a column. I’ve always
wanted to write. I’ve idolized writers like Joel Stein, Rick Reilly —
anyone who ever wrote the column
on the last page of a magazine. I
love the quick, witty stories they’ve
told. But there’s never been room in
this paper for someone who can only
write in first person — until now.
In the next few editions, I hope I
can use these few inches of newsprint to tell stories and share facts
that will at least make you smirk a
little. For first-year students, I hope
I can tell you something that helps
ease the transition from not-the-